Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

Prohibited and regulated activities - Prohibited actions

10: Restriction and prohibition on further storage of human in vitro embryos and human in vitro gametes stored for applicable period (10 years and extensions)

You could also call this:

"Rules for storing human embryos and gametes: you can store them for 10 years, with possible extensions, then they must be disposed of."

Illustration for Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

If you store human embryos or gametes, there are rules you must follow. You can store them for 10 years, and sometimes this period can be extended. After the storage period ends, you cannot store, use, or manipulate them.

For six months after the storage period ends, you can only store them to dispose of them, or dispose of them. After that six-month period, you cannot store, manipulate, or use them for any purpose. The storage period starts when you first store the embryo or gamete, and it includes any extensions approved by the ethics committee, as stated in sections 10A to 10D.

When calculating the storage period, you must include any time the embryo or gamete was stored outside New Zealand. You must also include any time a gamete used to create the embryo was stored, even if it was stored before the embryo was created. If you break these rules, you can be fined up to $20,000.

These rules do not affect other laws about storing embryos or gametes, as stated in subpart 2 of this Part. You must follow all the rules that apply to you.

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This page was last updated on 6 August 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM319313.

Topics:

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9: Duty to stop development of in vitro human or hybrid embryos, or

"Stop developing lab-made embryos after 14 days to follow the law"

10A: Ethics committee may approve extensions, or

"The ethics committee can let you store embryos or gametes for longer if you ask them in writing."

Part 2Prohibited and regulated activities
Prohibited actions

10Restriction and prohibition on further storage of human in vitro embryos and human in vitro gametes stored for applicable period (10 years and extensions)

This section restricts then prohibits storage, manipulation, and use of a human in vitro gamete or a human in vitro embryo (being an embryo whose development has been suspended) that has been stored for the applicable period.
For a 6-month period starting with the expiry of the applicable period, any person may store for disposal or dispose of, but no person may in any other way store, manipulate, or use, the gamete or embryo.
After that 6-month period, no person may for any purpose store, manipulate, or use the gamete or embryo.
Applicable period, in this section and sections 10A to 10D, and in relation to the gamete or embryo, means—
a period of 10 years starting when storage of the gamete or embryo began; or
if the ethics committee has, under section 10A, approved in respect of the gamete or embryo 1 or more extensions, means that 10-year period and all of those extensions.

In calculating, for the purposes only of this section, the period for which a human in vitro gamete or a human in vitro embryo has been stored, any storage of that gamete or embryo before 22 November 2004 must be disregarded.
In calculating, for the purposes only of this section, the period for which a human in vitro embryo has been stored, that period must be treated as including any storage on or after 22 November 2004 of the only stored, or the (or any one of the) longest stored, human in vitro gamete or gametes (if any) used in that embryo's creation.
In calculating, for the purposes only of this section, whether a gamete or embryo has been stored for the applicable period, storage of that gamete or embryo, or of a gamete used in creating that embryo, must be included even if it occurred outside New Zealand.
This section is not limited by, and does not limit, provisions of subpart 2 of this Part that apply to storage—
of an in vitro human gamete or an in vitro human embryo; and
that is, or is part of, any assisted reproductive procedure or human reproductive research.

Every person commits an offence who contravenes this section and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000.

Notes

Section 10: substituted (with effect on 22 November 2004), on 16 October 2010, by section 5 of the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (Storage) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 117).
Section 10(9): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).