The right to repair not replace industrial-produced devices is a great step because giving these products longer lives will reduce landfill waste, protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change. These changes may also help New Zealanders with the cost of living.
The Electrical Industry Advocacy Committee (eIAC), representing contractors, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers supports a right to repair. Working at the forefront of New Zealand’s green electrification, eIAC wants to see a progressive balance between resource circularity, consumer safety, and managing costs for both consumers and businesses.
The right to repair is an international trend that promotes circular economy practices. In recent years, it has expanded beyond its origins in automotive devices.
Overseas jurisdictions are backing the movement in a more gradual way and are typically more targeted with some definition around the scope and duration of the obligations in respect of this right.
For example, at the forefront, the European Union directive on repair of goods adopted in 2024 specifies the products that manufacturers will have to repair (including washing machines, TVs and smartphones) and identifies the obligation’s duration.
The New Zealand bill’s guarantee for consumers is for “goods”. There must be reasonable action to ensure that facilities for repair of the goods and supply of parts for the goods are reasonably available for a reasonable period after the goods are supplied. Where repair is requested, this must happen within a reasonable time or consumers get other options.
Manufacturers, suppliers and probably consumers will be looking for more guidance. The open-endedness of the bill may facilitate more disputes than intended and they raise a series of questions that are going to need further consideration as the bill progresses:
- What sectors, products and parts are sensible to include at this stage?
- Are consumers being kept safe from electrical dangers?
- For how long must parts realistically be held by manufacturers?
- What is manufacturer liability for botched repairs if instructions are not followed?
- How well is proprietary information protected when schematics/guides are provided?
- What adverse pressure will this exert on product/part prices, incentives to innovate, and big offshore retail investors interested in New Zealand?
- Would e-commerce sellers of international goods be capable of providing domestic repair facilities and replacement parts?
- How will the right to repair be enforced?
- What might more warehousing and shipping do to carbon emission levels?
Some clearer definition may avoid adverse consequences for consumers and will help businesses plan and cost out the consequential challenges, which include warehousing, inventory, supply agreements, IP management, and contingency funds for liability.
Ensuring consumer safety
Sustainable consumption achieved through repair and reuse needs to be safe.
New Zealand’s electrical safety regulations require “prescribed” electrical work to be normally carried out by a licensed electrical worker. A key concern is that the proposed rules will in effect remove the competence needed for more complex, dangerous work that normally requires a licensed electrical worker.
The present regulatory effect of a layperson having the manufacturer’s instructions on how to repair an appliance is to render the work doable by them.
Some electronics are inherently dangerous, even when unplugged, if not handled properly. Microwaves, audio amplifiers and other equipment have sizeable capacitors that can retain a charge and suddenly discharge hundreds of volts into a person even when unplugged. Capacitors are well known to hurt or even kill people.
The reforms need to avoid giving lay people misplaced confidence to take on a repair well outside their competence.
This draft legislation needs a public safety mechanism built into it or brought in elsewhere. One approach could be for manufacturers to stipulate equipment that is not safe for the public to repair and needing an authorised person to work on it.
Benefits, costs and opportunities
A well-thought-out right to repair will provide benefits across the board. Our economy will be more circular as we extend the lifetime of products, overseas investors won’t be deterred, consumers will have to buy less, and there will be returns for traders where sustainable.
If we want to build New Zealand’s productivity and everyone’s standard of living, it’s important that the requirements on manufacturers is practical not burdensome – it would clearly be impractical for manufacturers/importers to hold stock of every single part of every device.
Where cost of supply is too high, it gets passed through a supply chain to the consumer. The economics of a blanket approach, as drafted in the bill, will inevitably lead to consumers paying more up front and result in less product range/availability to the end user.
Right to repair is an opportunity for New Zealand to play to its sustainability strengths and be a leader in driving circular outcomes. Public submissions on the bill can be made until April 3.
The more viewpoints, the better. Let’s ensure we get the ambit right, serve stakeholder interests well, learn from overseas, and implement at the right pace.
