Office of the Minister of Health.
Cabinet has agreed to repeal the Medicines Act 1981 (Medicines Act) and Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 (made under the Food Act 2014) and replace them with new legislation that will regulate medicines, medical devices, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and natural health products (therapeutic products). The Bill modernises the therapeutic products regulatory regime to enable better and more equitable health outcomes for all New Zealanders. Providing for flexible and riskproportionate approval pathways will ensure New Zealand can access necessary and life-saving medicines, for example vaccines to respond to a public health emergency.