The Hazardous Substances and Organisms Act (HSNO) was enacted by the New Zealand Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1996 to regulate hazardous chemical substances in New Zealand, including import, production, use, transport, storage, waste gas disposal, etc. The changes on 1 December 2017 transferred the management of hazardous substances in the workplace under HSNO to the Health and safety at work Act 2015.

1, applicable enterprises:

Importers in New Zealand Manufacturers in New Zealand

2, Scope of application:

New Zealand HSNO applies to the import, production, use, transport, storage, waste gas disposal of hazardous chemical substances, mixtures or products of the following types, including:

Explosive properties (including pyrotechnics), inflammability, oxidation capacity (i.e. accelerated combustion), corrosiveness, acute or chronic toxicity (toxic to humans),   Ecotoxicity with or without bioaccumulation (i.e. can kill organisms directly or by accumulating in the environment), Contact with air or water can produce harmful substances.

Does not include the following exemptions for hazardous chemicals:

Hazardous substances used in inspection-free laboratories Radioactive substances (Dangerous Goods Category 7 of the United Nations Recommendation on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, not covered by the HSNO Act, unless they are also flammable, explosive, corrosive, oxidizing, toxic or ecotoxic.) Human medicine, food,   Infectious substances (United Nations Recommendation for the Transport of Dangerous Goods Category 6 dangerous Goods), non-hazardous substances

3, responsibility:

The import, manufacture and use of products containing hazardous chemicals in New Zealand requires approval under HSNO and corresponding codes, including single standard approval or group standard approval. Products can be searched for their respective approval codes in the EPA database based on their use, composition, and hazard classification. The hazard classification of products should refer to the New Zealand GHS standard and the classification standard under HNSO.

· Products with approved codes containing new hazardous chemical substances, that is, substances not on the New Zealand Chemical List (NZIoC), need to be notified to the New Zealand EPA at the time of the first import, production of the product, EPA will issue a notification confirmation within 15 working days after the assessment of the notification application, and the substance will be listed in NZIoC. * The NZIoC is the New Zealand List of Hazardous Substances, including hazardous substances and non-hazardous substances voluntarily applied for inclusion, that are imported or produced in New Zealand after 30 June 2006.

·   Products that do not match existing approval codes will need to submit a new application for approval.