Notification covers the following products, classified in various HS codes under 8415, 8418, 8479, 8609, 8704, and 8902:

·         Household refrigerators

·         Dehumidifiers

·         Household and small commercial air‐conditioning & heat pumps

·         Vehicle air‐conditioning (excluding trains and buses)

·         Passenger vehicle air‐conditioning (e.g., trains and buses)

·         Heavy commercial and industrial air‐conditioning

·         Commercial refrigeration (e.g., food retail, supermarkets & self‐contained cabinets)

·         Commercial refrigeration (e.g., <40kW rated capacity excluding food retail and applications below ‐50°C)

·         Transport refrigeration (e.g., refrigerated trucks, shipping containers, fishing boats and reefer vessels)

·         Industrial refrigeration (e.g., stationary refrigerant systems with rated capacity >40kW excluding applications below ‐50°C)

Proposed measures to reduce the environmental impact of fluorinated gases consultation document:

https://environment.govt.nz/publications/proposed-measures-to-reduce-the-environmental-impact-of-fluorinated-gases-consultation-document

39 pages in English (Relevant pages on the prohibitions are pages 23 – 27)

The attached consultation document outlines New Zealand's proposals to reduce emissions from Fluorinated gases and refrigerants. This includes proposals for a mandatory product stewardship scheme for refrigerants, and stepped prohibitions on both the import and sale of goods containing hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants (referred to as pre-charged equipment).

A proposed prohibition on the import and sale of pre‐charged equipment would ensure that the use of refrigerants with high global warming potentials (GWPs) would not continue once alternatives are available, while a phased approach would also avoid the need to immediately transition to lower‐GWP alternatives and address the financial burden associated with transitioning equipment.

These proposed prohibitions would work by imposing a GWP limit on specific classes of goods after specific dates. After these dates, the described goods would not be able to be imported or sold if they contained a HFC refrigerant with a GWP at or above the specified level. The current proposed timeline would impose prohibitions in three tranches: 1 January 2025, 1 January 2028, and 1 January 2032. The prohibition timeline proposed in the consultation document was formed based on external expertise, advice from industry groups, and other government policies.