Medicines Act 1981

Dealings with medicines and medical devices - Quality and standards

37: Powers of Minister to prohibit import, etc, of medicines

You could also call this:

"The Minister can ban medicines or devices from being imported, made, or sold for up to a year."

The Minister can stop medicines or medical devices from being imported, made, sold, or used. You are not allowed to do these things if the Minister says so. The Minister can only stop these things for up to one year and can only do it once for each type of medicine or device. The Minister must give a reason for stopping these things if you ask in writing. If you do not follow the Minister's rules, you can get in trouble with the law, as you will have committed an offence against this Act. A notice from the Minister is a type of law called secondary legislation, which has rules about how it must be published, as explained in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on 27 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM55445.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Public healthHealth and wellbeing > Healthcare services

36: Control of established medicines, or

"Rules for Selling Safe Medicines in New Zealand"

38: Restrictions on sale of medical devices, or

"Rules for Selling Medical Devices Safely"

Part 2Dealings with medicines and medical devices
Quality and standards

37Powers of Minister to prohibit import, etc, of medicines

The Minister may from time to time, by notice, prohibit the import, manufacture, packing, sale, possession, supply, administration, or other use of medicines of any specified description or medical devices of any specified kind, either absolutely or subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, for any specified period not exceeding 1 year; but he shall not exercise this power more than once in respect of medicines or medical devices so specified.
Where the Minister gives a notice under subsection (1), he shall, on the written request of any person, state his reasons for doing so.
Every person commits an offence against this Act who contravenes any notice given under subsection (1).
A notice under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

Compare

1960 No 97 s 28
1967 No 108 s 3

Notes

Section 37(1): amended, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
Section 37(4): inserted, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).