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Product safety and consumer information standards

Product safety and consumer information standards

To help prevent injury, there are safety standards in place for some products. There are also information standards for some products to help you make informed decisions when purchasing and caring for a product.

Product safety standards

There are a number of product safety standards in place to help prevent and reduce the chance of accidents and injuries while using these products.

 

  • Baby walkers

    There is a product safety standard for baby walkers to help reduce the risk of children getting hurt when using one.

  • Children's nightwear

    Children may be injured if their nightwear accidentally catches on fire. When buying nightwear for children, look for snug fitting items and low fire hazard fabrics.

  • Children's toys

    Children under the age of 36 months are less able to cough up anything they swallow by accident and may choke.

  • Cigarette lighters

    Lighters that are unsafe, do not work properly or are used incorrectly, particularly by children, may cause accidental fires and injuries.

  • Household cots

    Babies and young children may be injured in an unsafe cot. To help reduce the risk of injury to babies and young children, household cots must meet certain design and construction requirements, pass impact, strength and durability tests and have warning labels attached.

  • Multipurpose ladders

    The failure of multipurpose ladders, such as collapsing when in use, can cause serious injury.

  • Pedal bicycles

    To help prevent you from getting injured when riding a bicycle, new bicycles must meet design and performance requirements, and also have warning labels attached.

  • Sunscreen

    The Australian/NZ Standard for sunscreen (AS/NZ 2604/2012) is the mandatory Safety Standard under the Fair Trading Act, and enforced by the Commission.

Consumer information standards

Consumer information standards help you make informed decisions when purchasing and caring for products. They require traders to disclose certain information about goods and services when they offer them for sale.

  • Care labelling

    New clothing, household fabric and furnishings you buy must have a label that gives you information about how to care for that good.

  • Country of origin labelling

    All new clothing and footwear must have a label that tells you where the good was made.

  • Country of origin food regulations

    Businesses must disclose where certain fresh, frozen and thawed food comes from that they supply, offer, or advertise for supply to consumers in New Zealand.

  • Unit Pricing for Grocery Products

    The Unit Pricing Regulations have come into effect as of 31 August 2023. The Regulations require certain grocery retailers to display the unit price for goods clearly and legibly, at no less than 25% the size of the marked price. This applies to in store, online, and advertised prices.

  • Fibre content labelling

    Clothing or fabric you buy must have labels that list the fibres, and the percentages or amounts of the different fibres, in the good.

  • Used motor vehicles

    All used motor vehicles must have an accurate and complete Consumer Information Notice (CIN) when displayed for sale by a motor vehicle trader. If buying online, the CIN must be displayed within the advertisement for that vehicle.

  • Water efficiency labels

    Certain products must have water efficiency rating labels displayed next to them when being sold in New Zealand.
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