If you are found guilty of breaking a rule in the Medicines Act 1981, the court can take away certain things. The court can take away medicines, medical devices, or advertising materials that are related to the crime. The court can also take away similar things found with you or at your premises. If the court takes these things away, they become the property of the Crown. The Minister will decide what happens to these things. The Minister's decision will determine how they are disposed of.

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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=DLM56085.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Public healthCrime and justice > Criminal law

84: Payment of expenses of analysis on conviction, or

"Paying for medicine tests if you break the law"

86: Courts may order withdrawal of goods from circulation, or

"Courts can stop bad medicines or devices being sold if the law is broken"

Part 5Enforcement

85Forfeiture on conviction

Where any person is convicted of an offence against this Act or any regulations made under this Act, the court may order that any medicine or medical device, or any advertising material or labelling material, to which the conviction relates, and any similar medicine, medical device, or material found on the premises of the defendant or in the defendant's possession at the time of the offence, together with all packages or containers containing the medicine, medical device, or material, shall be forfeited to the Crown.
Everything so forfeited to the Crown shall be disposed of as the Minister directs.

Compare

1969 No 7 s 40
1979 No 27 s 66