The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment, after feedback and consultation, will not continue to implement prohibitions on import and sale of equipment pre-charged with hydrofluorocarbons at this time.
The suite of prohibitions that could be proposed was limited and when these prohibitions were modelled, the emissions reductions associated with these prohibitions were not significant. The department will continue to monitor the refrigerant market and may look to implement prohibitions in the future.
The 2022 consultation also included proposals for regulated product stewardship for synthetic refrigerants. This work is still progressing and is unaffected by the decision to defer implementing a prohibition on pre-charged equipment.
