Section 400 of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act sets the Regulations regarding the banning or restricting of certain alcohol products.

This allows for the Minister of Justice to ban or restrict a product, its distribution, importation, manufacture or sale, control or prohibit its advertising, display, labelling, packaging or promotion.

This clause was aimed at addressing the issues relating to RTDs in New Zealand, due to increasing evidence and concerns that they were associated with increased drinking and harm among young people, and also the increasing alcohol content of these beverages. The Minister at the time chose not to proceed with plans to restrict the sale of RTD’s above 5%, but to allow the industry to self-regulate their RTD products containing no more than 7% of alcohol or no more than 2 standards drink per container. For more information, please click here.