Obligations – notifiable products

New notification requirements for notifiable product retailers come into effect with the new 2023 vaping regulations. From 21 September 2023 general retailers of vape products and other retailers of notifiable products can notify the Director-General of Health that they are selling notifiable products.

By 1 October 2023, general retailers of vape products and retailers of notifiable products must have notified the Director-General of Health that they are selling notifiable products.

1. Go to HARP/New submissions
2. Click on 'Log in'
3. Enter existing My Health Account username and password (If you need to create a new account please refer to Creating your account).

If it's your first time accessing HARP you will be asked to provide consent for HARP to access details of your account.

4. Click Allow
5. Click on Manufacturer/Importer/Distributor/Retailer
6. Complete the online Form.

Your access request will be assessed with processing taking between 5–10 working days. After the assessment you will receive an email stating the access registration has been completed.

You then need to log in HARP, select NEW SUBMISSION and then under VRA Applications select Regulated Product Seller (RPS) Notification form. Complete the form and provide details of the products you intend to sell in New Zealand. You will be asked to state whether you will be selling at wholesale and/or retail, and you will need to select each of the product types you intend to sell:

• Herbal Smoking Products
• Smoked Tobacco Products
• Smokeless Tobacco Product
• Vaping Products

You are required to re-notify on an annual basis to ensure that market information is kept up to date and there is an assessment fee of $80+GST, excluding any card processing fees, for each notification. Once payment has been received your notification will be visible on your HARP dashboard. We may also publish a list of businesses selling regulated products on the Ministry of Health website.

NB. Each person that sells notifiable products must submit a Regulated Product Seller (RPS) Notification, and they will therefore need to register for access using the Manufacturer/Importer/Distributor/Retailer Registration. A person that sells notifiable products from more than one store only needs to complete one Regulated Product Seller (RPS) Notification. Note that a ‘person’ can be an individual (natural person) or a corporate (legal) entity.

• General retailers are prohibited from discussions with customers that encourage the use of vaping products, promotes their sale, or notifies store visitors of product availability.
• General retailers can still identify products that are available for purchase, and their prices, and they can encourage smokers to switch to less harmful products.
• A specialist vape retailer who is inside their approved vaping premises may talk to customers about vaping products and provide guidance on the safe use of notifiable products that are available for purchase in their approved premises, provided they comply with any requirements in regulations.

The rules around offering free or discounted vaping products are similar to those for tobacco products. These include that:

• vaping products must not be distributed or supplied for free or at a reduced charge, except:
  • as part of a publicly-funded smoking cessation programme
  • a Specialist Vape Retailer may supply free or discounted vaping products from their approved vaping premises or approved internet site
• vaping products must not be packaged together with other types of product or distributed/supplied with other types of product at a single price (ie, as a bundle). Note – They can be purchased at the same time as other products (as part of the same transaction) and then bagged or shipped together provided they are not sold as a package or sold together at a single price
• only Specialist Vape Retailers may offer someone buying a vaping product a gift, cash rebate, or the right to participate in a contest, lottery or game, in consideration for their purchase
• retailers must not be offered a gift, cash rebate, or the right to participate in a contest, lottery or game in relation to:
  • the purchase or sale of vaping products by the retailer
  • the advertising of vaping products in the retailer’s premises or on their website
  • the location of vaping products in the retailer’s premises or in their website.

The prohibitions on describing tobacco products as suitable for chewing or other similar oral use are the same for vaping products. This means that vaping products must not be advertised, labelled or otherwise described as suitable for chewing or other similar oral use.

Any products where nicotine is absorbed primarily through the oral mucosa by chewing or similar oral use must not be imported for sale, sold, packaged or distributed in New Zealand. This prohibition does not apply to products that have been given consent or provisional consent as a medicine under the Medicines Act 1981.

A general retailer must not display its name or trade name on the outside of its place of business (whether that is a physical store or a website) if the name:

• signifies that vaping products can be purchased
• is a trademark of a vaping product
• is the name of a manufacturer or importer of a vaping product.

This is not the case for Specialist Vape Retailers.

Manufacturers and importers, distributors and retailers of regulated products must keep sales records and provide annual reports and returns to the Vaping Regulatory Authority:

• Record keeping and returns