Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996

The Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 is New Zealand’s main framework law for controlling ozone depleting substances and certain goods connected with them.

Its purpose is to help protect human health and the environment, phase out ozone depleting substances as soon as possible except for essential uses, and give effect to New Zealand’s obligations under the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol.

For business owners, the practical message is straightforward. If you import, export, manufacture, sell, use or handle refrigerants or other regulated substances, or equipment and goods linked to them, you need to check what the current regulations require before you act.

The Act itself tells you the main risk areas:

The Act applies broadly. It covers ozone depleting substances themselves, but it also extends to goods that contain those substances, goods designed to use them, and goods manufactured, processed or grown using them.

That means the law can affect more than chemical suppliers. It can also reach equipment importers, service technicians, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and some retailers.

In practice, a business should not ask only whether it sells a chemical drum or gas cylinder. It should also ask whether it deals with equipment, components or finished goods linked to an ozone depleting substance in any of the ways the Act describes.

Whether your business is directly affected depends on two things:

Most compliance problems start with ordinary business decisions rather than deliberate wrongdoing.

Common trigger points include importing equipment from overseas, buying refrigerants from a new supplier, taking on servicing work for older systems, dismantling equipment at end of life, or selling stock without checking whether the product category is restricted.

The Act makes it unlawful to import, export, manufacture, sell or use substances or goods where regulations prohibit that activity. It also allows permit-based and exemption-based pathways in some cases.

So the right question is not just “what is this product?” It is also:

The Act’s core obligations are built around prohibited activities and compliance with any permit, exemption or regulatory conditions.

A business can commit an offence by importing or exporting substances or goods in contravention of the Act. It can also commit an offence by manufacturing or using substances, or manufacturing goods, in contravention of the Act. Selling goods in contravention of the Act can also be an offence where the sale is knowing, reckless or negligent.

There are separate risks if your business:

The Environmental Protection Authority has an important operational role under the Act.

It may grant exemptions, but only in accordance with regulations. It may also issue permits where regulations allow importation or exportation under permit. Applications for exemptions and permits must be made in an approved form, and regulations may set the process and requirements.

When considering an exemption, the Authority must have regard to matters including:

Good records matter because the Act gives officers inspection powers where they reasonably believe an offence has been or is being committed.

An officer may require production of substances or goods, and books, documents or other records, relating to the suspected offence. Officers may inspect those records, copy them, inspect substances or goods, and take samples where they reasonably believe the items may be evidence of an offence.

The Act also says an officer exercising inspection powers must produce evidence of appointment and identity at the time and later on request.

From a business point of view, this means records should be organised in a way that lets you quickly show what the product is, where it came from, what approval pathway applies, and what happened to it during storage, transfer, servicing or disposal.

The Act becomes easier to understand when you apply it to common business models.

A refrigeration service business may not import chemicals itself, but it can still face risk under the Act if technicians release a controlled substance during servicing or dismantling work. It may also need to check whether regulations require accreditation for the people doing that work.

A wholesaler may face a different risk. It might sell goods in contravention of the Act because it relied on a supplier description without checking whether the goods fall within a prohibited category or whether a permit or exemption condition affects sale.

An importer of equipment from overseas should not focus only on customs clearance. The Act also covers goods designed to use ozone depleting substances and goods containing them.

A manufacturer using a regulated substance in production should check not only whether the substance itself is controlled, but also whether the manufacturing activity or resulting goods are affected by regulations.

In each case, the safest approach is to map three things before the transaction or job starts:

This Act is a principal Act and is in force. It was assented to on 24 June 1996 and came into force on 16 September 1996 by commencement order. The version cited here is the latest version as at 28 October 2021 and is administered by the Ministry for the Environment.

The Act works alongside regulations made under it. That is important because the Act sets the framework, while regulations can do the detailed work of prohibiting activities, allowing conditional pathways, prescribing offences for regulation breaches, and requiring accreditation.

The Act also interacts with other legislation. Prohibited exports are linked to the Customs and Excise Act 2018. Search warrant and seizure processes connect with the Search and Surveillance Act 2012. The Act also says its provisions are additional to, and not a substitute for, other enactments relating to importation, exportation, manufacture, sale or use of substances or goods.

For business owners, the practical reading is this: