Kia ora G Reed ,

Thank you for your Official Information Act request received on
11/02/2025.

We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in
any event no later than 20 working days after the day your request was
received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension to that timeframe.

Please note the Ministry for the Environment will release responses to
selected OIA requests on our [1]OIA responses page shortly after the
response has been sent.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at
[MFE request email].

Please note that this Taku Mahi inbox is not monitored.

Ngâ mihi nui

Ministerial Services Team 

Ministry for the Environment – Manatû Mô Te Taiao

Email: [MFE request email] Website: [2]www.mfe.govt.nz 

8 Willis Street, Wellington Central, Wellington 6011

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Kia ora G. Reed,

Thank you for your request of 11 February 2025 to the Ministry for the Environment (the Ministry) - reference OIAD-1483.

The Ministry has provided a response to each part of your request below.

1: Is it unlawful to import plastic drinking straws for personal use and will an attempt to do result in them being seized by customs at the border?

It is not unlawful to import plastic drinking straws for personal use, meaning that these would not be seized by customs. It would be unlawful to sell or distribute the straws, and more information about this has been provided below.

2: Are there any penalties for attempting to import plastic drinking straws for personal use? Could it result in prosecution? Under which laws would the prosecution proceed?

There are no penalties for importing plastic drinking straws for personal use and therefore will not result in prosecution. Per Section 23(1)(b) of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (the Act) , it is unlawful to manufacture or sell plastic straws, amongst other items. However, selling effectively includes distribution as Section 5 of the Act defines sale as:

(a) an offer for sale; and
(b) distribution or delivery, whether or not for valuable consideration (including delivery to an agent for sale on consignment)

You may be interested to know that within the Act, there is an exemption for plastic drinking straws that is intended to cater to those with a disability who require a plastic drinking straw to help them drink. This exception allows pharmacies, supermarkets and other specific entities to sell or provide plastic straws to people upon request. These entities are not able to ask for evidence of the disability. Please see the exact wording of the exemption, under Section 7 of the Waste Minimisation (Plastic and Related Products) Regulations 2022:

S7 Exemption in relation to sale of single-use plastic drinking straws

(1) The purpose of this provision is to enable the sale of single-use plastic drinking straws for use by a person who has a health condition or disability that requires them to use a plastic drinking straw to help them to drink.
(2) A manufacturer or wholesale supplier may sell single-use plastic drinking straws to any 1 or more of the following entities:
(a) an exempt entity:
(b) a supermarket:
(c) a pharmacy:
(d) a wholesale supplier.
(3) An exempt entity, a supermarket, or a pharmacy—
(a) may sell single-use plastic drinking straws to a person who requests them; and
(b) must not require a person who requests single-use plastic drinking straws to explain or provide evidence that the person has, or is acting on behalf of a person who has, a health condition or disability that requires them to use a plastic drinking straw to help them to drink.
(4) A pharmacy may also sell single-use plastic drinking straws to an exempt entity.
(5) However, an exempt entity, a supermarket, or a pharmacy must not display single-use plastic drinking straws for sale.
(6) In this regulation, exempt entity means—
(a) a charitable entity as defined in section 4 of the Charities Act 2005:
(b) an education entity as defined in section 10(8) of the Education and Training Act 2020:
(c) a hospitality business:
(d) a health or disability service as defined in section 5 of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001:
(e) a public service agency as defined in section 10(a) of the Public Service Act 2020:
(f) a Crown agent as defined in section 10 of the Crown Entities Act 2004.

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Office of the Ombudsman of the Ministry's decision relating to this request, in accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. The relevant details can be found on their website at: http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.

Ngâ mihi nui,

Ministerial Services
Ministry for the Environment | Manatû Mô Te Taiao
| [email address] | mfe.govt.nz

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