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Land Transport Act 1998

Driving offences involving drink or drugs, and penalties and procedures - Enforcement procedures for offences involving use of qualifying drugs - Minister’s powers to make notices

71G: Minister may approve oral fluid screening devices for use in oral fluid screening tests

You could also call this:

"The Minister can approve devices to test drivers for drug use."

Illustration for Land Transport Act 1998

The Minister of Police can approve devices to test oral fluid for drugs. You need to know that the Minister must consult other ministers before making a decision. The Minister considers how accurate the device is and how well it detects recent drug use. The Minister looks at rules like those in sections 71A to 71DG when deciding. You should be aware that the Minister wants to detect drugs used recently by drivers. The Minister also wants to stop people driving after using drugs. A notice can say what devices are approved and what they are called. If a device has a certain name or number on it, you can assume it is the approved device. This is unless someone proves otherwise. In this case, a relevant standard refers to a specific Australian/New Zealand Standard, like AS/NZS 4760:2019. The Minister's notice is a type of law, and you can find out more about it in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019. The Minister's decision is important for road safety. You can find more information about the rules in section 71GA. The Minister's notice is a way to keep people safe on the roads.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS822585.

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Transport and travel > DrivingHealth and wellbeing > Public health
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Part 6Driving offences involving drink or drugs, and penalties and procedures
Enforcement procedures for offences involving use of qualifying drugs: Minister’s powers to make notices

71GMinister may approve oral fluid screening devices for use in oral fluid screening tests

  1. The Minister of Police may, by notice, approve a kind of device that may be used as an oral fluid screening device.

  2. The notice must specify—

  3. either or both of the following:
    1. 1 or more qualifying drugs in respect of which the approved device may be used for the purpose of screening oral fluid for the presence of that drug (a specified qualifying drug):
      1. 1 or more families of qualifying drugs in respect of which the approved device may be used for the purpose of screening oral fluid for the presence of that family of drugs (a specified family of qualifying drugs); and
      2. for each specified qualifying drug or specified family of qualifying drugs, the concentration level of that specified qualifying drug or specified family of qualifying drugs in the person’s oral fluid at or above which the result of the test will appear positive for that qualifying drug or that family of qualifying drugs (the positive screening threshold).

        1. Before making a notice, the Minister of Police must consult the Minister of Transport and the Science Minister.

        2. The Minister of Police may approve a device under subsection (1) only if the Minister of Police has considered the following matters:

        3. the accuracy of the device in light of the requirements for screening oral fluid specified in sections 71A to 71DG:
          1. the extent to which the positive screening threshold used by the device for a specified qualifying drug or specified family of qualifying drugs indicates recent use of that specified qualifying drug or specified family of qualifying drugs.

            1. In considering—

            2. the matters specified in subsection (4), the Minister of Police must take into account the desirability of—
              1. detecting a qualifying drug, including a family of qualifying drugs, that has recently been used by the driver of a motor vehicle; and
                1. deterring a person from driving a motor vehicle if they have recently used a qualifying drug, including a family of qualifying drugs; and
                2. the matter specified in subsection (4)(b), the Minister of Police must also have regard to any relevant standard.

                  1. A notice made under subsection (1) may define an approved device as a device that bears, or is associated by its manufacturer with, any trade name or number or other expression, or any combination of those things, that may be specified in the notice.

                  2. In the absence of proof to the contrary, a device is to be treated as bearing or being associated with a particular trade name or number or other expression if that name or number or other expression—

                  3. appears on the device, whether on a label or otherwise, or is shown on a display panel on the device; or
                    1. is printed out by the device on a card or on paper; or
                      1. appears on printed matter that—
                        1. accompanies the device; and
                          1. is associated with the device or is intended by the manufacturer of the device to be associated with the device; and
                            1. is issued by or on behalf of the manufacturer.

                            2. In this section and in section 71GA, relevant standard means—

                            3. Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4760:2019 Procedure for specimen collection and the detection and quantification of drugs in oral fluid; or
                              1. any Australian/New Zealand Standard or New Zealand Standard substituted for that standard.

                                1. A notice made under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                                Notes
                                • Section 71G: replaced, on , by section 28 of the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 12).