Notifying us about a product safety recall

You must notify the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment when you're recalling a product.

Failure to notify us of a recall is an offence under the Fair Trading Act and you could be fined up to $600,000. You must inform us within 2 working days of the recall being made public – but we encourage you to let us know as early as possible.

To notify a recall, complete the product recall notice template and email it to us.

Product recall notification form [DOCX, 74 KB]

Notifying us:

  • only needs to be done once for each recall, even if there are several businesses involved
  • should be done by the business leading the recall in New Zealand.

Section 31A of the Fair Trading Act has more information on which recalls you need to notify.

Fair Trading Act 1986 — Section 31aA, Voluntary product recall New Zealand Legislation Te Tari Tohutohu Pāremata(external link)

What you must tell us

You must tell us full information about what is wrong with the product, the risk it presents and what consumers, or owners should do.

Recalls that must be notified to other government agencies

Products that have reporting or recall notification requirements under other legislation, such as food, medicine or, vehicles, may require other agencies to be notified.

What we don't do

For recalls that fall under other legislation and a different agency, there is no need to also notify MBIE.