Implementation of New Regulatory Controls on High-Power Laser Pointers: Year 7

This report discusses the Ministry of Health’s implementation of regulatory controls on high-power laser pointers (HPLPs) over the fifth year since those controls came into force on 1 March 2014. The Government introduced these controls to manage the risks arising from the ready availability, at low cost, of powerful hand-held, battery-operated laser pointers, by limiting the supply.

This document reports on the Ministry of Health’s activity in terms of regulation of HPLPs in the most recent implementation year. It looks at numbers of authorisations and the extent of public interest in the regulations for this period, then goes on to report on surveillance and compliance activity, on the part of the Ministry itself and then on the part of the New Zealand Customs Service and the New Zealand Police respectively. It discusses the High-Power Laser Pointer Offences and Penalties Bill, and then looks at recent overseas activity in the area of regulation of HPLPs.