New Zealand - Country Commercial Guide
Standards for Trade
Last published date:

Overview

Standards New Zealand, a business unit within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is New Zealand’s leading developer of standards and standard-based solutions.  New Zealand Standards cover a wide variety of subjects, including design, safety, specifications, performance, and quality of products.  Adoption of these standards is generally voluntary but can be made compulsory through a statutory reference.  Compliance with these Standards may be an important factor in sales promotion and production certification (“S” Mark).  New Zealand operates under the metric system of weights and measures.  New Zealand Standards use the identifier NZS.  Joint Australian and New Zealand Standards use the identifier AS/NZS.

Standards New Zealand is receptive to industry experts volunteering to help develop standards.

Standards New Zealand is the New Zealand member of the International Organization for Standardization.

Standards

Standards New Zealand recognizes international standards such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for countries to adopt for national use.  (It is a requirement of New Zealand’s Standards and Accreditation Act to consider international standards first, before deciding if a New Zealand-specific standard is required.)

Standards New Zealand also recognizes regional/ joint standards prepared by member organizations within a specific region, such as the European Union’s EN standards, or joint Australian/New Zealand standards.

Testing, Inspection and Certification

New Zealand product compliance regulations are based on ensuring safety and effect all industry sectors.  Compliance amongst key sectors includes:

  • Importers and suppliers of electrical products must make sure their products are allowed to be sold in New Zealand and meet fundamental safety requirements.  Testing to make sure these requirements are met can be carried out either in local testing laboratories in countries with whom New Zealand has an Electrical and Electronic Mutual Recognition Agreement. 
  • New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority monitors energy use of electrical products and energy using appliances such as motor vehicles.
  • New Zealand’s Building Code monitored by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment covers building product compliance requirements.
  • Medsafe New Zealand regulates products used for a therapeutic purpose.  These include medicines, related products, and medical devices.
  • Food safety is covered by several standards in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.  These standards aim to lower the incidence of foodborne illness by strengthening food safety and traceability through the food supply chain.

Publication of Technical Regulations

There is no national gazette in New Zealand recording technical regulations across all sectors.  U.S. companies can remain updated on new regulations/policy changes through Government sources and industry bodies or work directly with the U.S. Commercial Service in New Zealand.

Contact Information

Standards New Zealand is the leading developer of standards and standards-related solutions.

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) develops food standards for food available in both countries.

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures 

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by WTO Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts.  Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.

Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life.  Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point.   National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information.