New Zealand published Arms Legislation Bill

The Arms Legislation Bill, a Bill to amend the Arms Act 1983, is aimed at improving public safety by adjusting legislative frameworks to improve controls on the use and possession of firearms.

We are also making legislative changes to enable New Zealand to accede to the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition.  These changes include:

• requiring all firearms manufactured in New Zealand or imported into New Zealand to be marked.  This broadens the current legislative marking requirements to all firearms imported (currently, marking requirements apply to pistols, prohibited firearms, restricted airguns and restricted weapons). It also adds the requirement to firearms manufactured in New Zealand
• clarifying that silencers are included in the definition of "part".  Police practice since April 2019 has been that silencers have been included in parts; this change simply clarifies current practice
• adding a new limb to the definition of antique firearms clarifying that antique firearms do not include firearms manufactured after 1899.

Products covered :  Only sub-sets of these categories (refer to 6): Military weapons, other than revolvers, pistols and the arms of heading 93.07 ,  Revolvers and pistols, other than those of heading 93.03 or 93.04 , Other firearms and similar devices which operate by firing of an explosive charge (for example, sporting shotguns and rifles, muzzle-loading firearms, Very pistols and other devices designed to project only signal flares, pistols and revolvers for firing blank ammunition, captive-bold humane killers, line-throwing guns) ,  Other arms (for example, spring, air or gas guns and pistols, truncheons), excluding those of heading 93.07 , Parts and accessories of articles of headings 93.01 to 93.04 , antiques of an age exceeding one hundred years

HS Code: 9301, 9303, 9304, 9305, 9706

Proposed date of adoption: February 2020 depending on the Parliamentary process.

Proposed date of entry into force: Same as the date of adoption.

Final date for comments: 60 days from notification

If the Proposal/Notification/Regulation will affect your International Business please send us your representation with facts and figures , so that these can be taken up suitably.