On 19 February 2025, the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill (Bill) passed its first reading and was referred to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee for public submissions. The Bill proposes to amend the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) to include strengthened rights for consumers to have their products repaired, so as to extend the lifetime of products and reduce waste.
The Bill is now open for public submission, with submissions due by 3 April 2025. This represents an important opportunity for all stakeholders to have their say in relation to how a "right of repair" ought to work in the New Zealand context. Please get in touch with one of our experts if you would like assistance with your submission.
We have set out further detail in relation to the content of the Bill and next steps below.
What does the Bill propose to do?
Section 12 of the CGA currently guarantees that manufacturers of goods that are first supplied to a consumer in New Zealand will take reasonable action to ensure that repair facilities and replacement parts are reasonably available for a reasonable period of time after the goods are supplied. However, section 42 provides an exemption from this guarantee where reasonable notice is given to the consumer that repair facilities and parts may not be available.
The Bill was introduced by Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson as a member's bill in April 2024. It proposes to amend the CGA to give consumers the "right to repair" by:
- Repealing section 42, with the result that it will no longer be possible to exclude the guarantee in section 12 of the CGA by providing reasonable notice to consumers.
- Requiring manufacturers to provide consumers (within 20 working days of a request) with the most recent information, spare parts, software, and other tools that the manufacturer uses for diagnosing, maintaining, or repairing the goods. The manufacturer must provide information without charge but may charge a reasonable fee for providing spare parts, software, and other tools.
- Enabling consumers to request that a supplier repair goods that do not meet the guarantees in the CGA rather than replace them. The guarantees in the CGA include, for example, guarantees that goods are of an acceptable quality (including by lasting for a reasonable time), fit for the particular purposes for which they are supplied, and comply with their description. Accordingly, this is not an "unqualified" right for consumers to have their goods repaired as a result of wear and tear over the long-term, but is rather an "add on" to existing consumer law protections for faulty goods. The repair must be undertaken within a reasonable time, with a consumer having the right if this cannot be achieved to accept replacement goods, seek the costs of repair from the supplier to have the goods repaired elsewhere, or reject the goods.
- Providing consumers with a right of redress against manufacturers where goods fail to comply with the guarantee as to information, repairs, and spare parts.
- Allowing consumers to use alternative repairers or parts to those authorised by the manufacturer without voiding any manufacturers' express guarantee (i.e. warranty) applying to the goods.
The wider aims of the Bill are to contribute to climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection by reducing waste and building a circular resource economy, and to relieve financial pressures on consumers.
The Bill has a broad reach in that (at least as currently drafted) it applies to goods generally. By contrast, both the United Kingdom's and the European Union's right to repair regulations apply to only a sub-set of goods (e.g. white goods and televisions).
One key question that manufacturers will presumably wish to consider is how the right of repair will operate in practice, given it may be impractical to directly provide domestic repair facilities and/or replacement parts for goods in some circumstances. Given New Zealand's comparatively small market size and geographic isolation, it is possible that the proposed changes will give rise to challenges that have not been as prevalent in other jurisdictions that have a statutory right to repair.
What are the next steps?
The Bill was supported in its first reading by Labour, the Green Party, Te Pāti Māori, and NZ First, with the latter splitting from its coalition partners National and ACT, which both opposed the Bill. While parties across the House generally supported the intent of the Bill, all three coalition partners expressed concern about the Bill's broad application to all goods and a preference for a narrower, more targeted approach to rights of repair. However, NZ First considered that these issues could be addressed by amendments to the Bill made at the Select Committee stage. NZ First indicated that it would not support the Bill beyond Select Committee if its concerns were not addressed, but that feedback from those affected could enable the Bill to strike the right balance between the costs imposed on consumers and businesses.1
As a result of the Bill passing its first reading, it has now been referred to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee, which is taking public submissions until 3 April 2025. The Committee's report on the Bill is due by 19 August 2025.