Removing outdated ‘offensive trades’ rules
14 August 2026
We are removing outdated regulatory requirements applying to offensive trades.
The offensive trades regime, set out in the Health Act 1956, requires certain activities to register annually with local councils. These activities include fish curing, leather tanning, flax pulping and nightsoil collection. While originally designed to manage local nuisance and public health risks, our assessment found the regime no longer reflects modern regulatory practice.
Today, those risks are managed through a range of more targeted, risk-based regulatory systems and general provisions under the Health Act. As a result, the registration requirements create unnecessary cost and administrative burden for businesses and councils, without providing additional benefit.
What will change
The Government has agreed to remove the list of offensive trades from Schedule 3 of the Health Act 1956.
This will eliminate annual registration requirements for affected activities.
What this means
- reduced compliance costs for businesses
- lower administrative burden for councils
- regulation better aligned with how risks are managed in practice.
The change is expected to benefit between 200-400 businesses across the country, delivering up to $2.26 million in savings over 10 years through reduced fees and time spent on compliance activities.
This work supports the Ministry for Regulation’s role in identifying regulation that is not fit for purpose and improving the overall performance of the regulatory system.