New Zealand Proposes Mandatory Asbestos Testing Requirements for Certain Consumer Sand Products
In view of the fact that asbestos continues to be detected in sand products sold in New Zealand, and existing prohibitions on asbestos alone do not provide sufficient assurance of asbestos-free or appropriately tested products, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment of New Zealand (MBIE) proposes a Draft Unsafe Goods (Consumer Sand Products) Notice 2026 (Draft Notice) on 4 September 2026, to introduce mandatory asbestos testing requirements for certain consumer sand products. In short, the proposal introduces a tested before supply approach.
MBIE is seeking feedback on this Draft Notice, which proposes to ban the import and supply of most toys, decorative, artistic and craft products that contain sand, unless mandatory testing requirements have been met.
Scope of Products Covered
- Toys that are made of, include, or contain sand (including products where the sand is sealed within the toy); and
- Decorative, artistic, or craft products made of sand or that include or contain accessible sand.
Testing Method for Asbestos
- Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), or
- A combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA)
In accordance with ISO 22262-2:2026 “Air quality — Bulk materials — Part 2: Quantitative determination of asbestos by gravimetric and microscopical methods”.
Accreditation Requirements
Testing described above must be undertaken by a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 by an accreditation body that is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement (ILAC MRA), and the analytical method used must be within the laboratory’s accredited scope.
Test Result / Report Requirements
- Be dated no more than 12 months before the goods are imported into or manufactured in New Zealand;
- Clearly identify the product or product variant to which the test relates;
- Identify the laboratory that conducted the testing;
- Specify the test method used;
- State the dateor date range, on which testing was conducted; and
- Indicate that no asbestos was detected in the samples tested.
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