Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

Prohibited and regulated activities - Activities requiring approval of ethics committee - Matters to be considered and decided by ethics committee

19: Approval of assisted reproductive procedure or research

You could also call this:

"Getting permission to help people have babies using special medical procedures or research"

Illustration for Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004

When you want to do a special kind of medical procedure or research to help people have babies, you need to get approval from a group called the ethics committee. They can say yes to your plan if you want to help people have babies using special medical procedures or if you want to do research on how babies are made. The ethics committee will only say yes if your plan follows the rules and guidelines that are in place.

The ethics committee can say yes, but only if you agree to follow certain conditions that they set. These conditions can limit how long you can do the procedure or research, or limit who you can do it on. They want to make sure that you get permission from the people involved before you start.

If you are doing research, the ethics committee will make you write reports on how it is going and what you have found out. You have to write these reports at certain times, like every year, and when you finish the research. You have to give these reports to the ethics committee so they can see what you are doing.

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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=DLM319326.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Healthcare servicesFamily and relationships > Children and parentingRights and equality > Privacy

18: Applications for approval, or

"Asking for permission to do assisted reproductive procedures or research"

20: Person responsible for activity, or

"Who is in charge of making sure everything is done correctly during an activity"

Part 2Prohibited and regulated activities
Activities requiring approval of ethics committee: Matters to be considered and decided by ethics committee

19Approval of assisted reproductive procedure or research

The ethics committee may give its written approval—
for the performance of assisted reproductive procedures by a nominated person; or
for the conduct of human reproductive research by a nominated person.

The ethics committee may not give an approval unless it is satisfied that the activity proposed to be undertaken under the approval is consistent with relevant guidelines or relevant advice issued or given by the advisory committee.
The ethics committee may give an approval subject to any conditions it thinks fit to impose, which may, without limitation,—
limit the duration of the approval; or
limit the individual or individuals on whom any assisted reproductive procedure may be performed to a particular individual or to particular individuals or to a class or classes of individuals.

The ethics committee must impose any conditions that it considers are required to ensure that the informed consent of any person is obtained before—
the person is involved in an activity to be undertaken under the approval; or
1 or more embryos, gametes, or other cells derived from the person are used.

In an approval for human reproductive research, the ethics committee must impose a condition that requires any person specified in the approval—
to prepare, in accordance with any requirements stated by the committee, reports on the research (consisting of progress reports and a final report); and
to provide those reports to the committee,—
1. in the case of progress reports, at specified intervals of not less than 1 year; and
2. in the case of the final report, on completion of the research.