In early 2019, there was a one-off opportunity to apply for eligibility to apply for grandparented import permits for people who imported new bulk HFCs in 2015, 2016 or 2017. No further grandparented eligibility will be granted, but you can transfer eligibility from an existing grandparented eligibility holder.

HFC Grandparented eligibility decision June 2019 (pdf 749KB)

EPA Decision on submissions for grandparented eligibility (pdf 152KB)

EPA Decision on late applications (pdf 226KB)

HFC Grandparented permit holders 2020 (pdf 165KB)

Transferring your grandparented eligibility to another party

You can transfer your eligibility to apply for grandparented import permits to another party (person or organisation) at any time. Note, it is not the EPA’s role to organise or broker these transfers; arrangements are made directly between the parties involved.

The transfer is formalised legally by completing a Transfer Notification form and sending it to us. We will send confirmation to all parties once the transfer is processed and completed

HFC Transfer notification form (docx 92KB)

Send the completed notice, and any supporting information, by email to ozone@epa.govt.nz.

You may also post copies to:

The HS Applications team
Environmental Protection Authority
Private Bag 63002
Wellington
6140
New Zealand

Once we have received the completed notice, we may contact you for further information. Your transfer will not be completed until all requested information is supplied.

Use your annual allocation - or we may revoke it

If you do not use all of your grandparented eligibility for two years in a row (meaning that part of your allocation is not used to apply for grandparented import permits, or that you imported less than the amount of your eligibility), we may revoke the unused part of your eligibility.

Before revoking a part of any grandparented eligibility, we will contact you and consider any mitigating circumstances.

For more information, see the rules, which are set out in Regulation 7E of the Ozone Layer Protection Regulations 2018

More about grandparented eligibility

Holders of grandparented eligibility can apply for grandparented import permit(s) to import new bulk HFCs up to the amount of their grandparented eligibility for each calendar year in carbon dioxide equivalent in tonnes.

Note: eligibility itself is not an import permit, and does not allow for HFCs to be imported.

Each holders’ grandparented eligibility allocation will decrease over time until 2036. This decrease is in line with the national decrease in new bulk HFC imports (‘phase-down limits’) that New Zealand agreed under the international agreement, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

Grandparented eligibility holders wishing to import more new bulk HFC than is allowed under their Notice of Grandparented Eligibility in a calendar year, may apply for a special import permit. We cannot guarantee that this permit will be granted; all applications for special import permits will be considered together and allocated annually within New Zealand's national limits for new bulk HFC imports.

Grandparented eligibility holders hold grandparented eligibility indefinitely, unless they choose to transfer it to someone else, or their eligibility is revoked (see below). Remember, as noted above, even though the eligibility is held indefinitely, the amount of HFCs that can be imported under a grandparented eligibility will reduce over time in line with New Zealand’s schedule for reducing the total of new bulk HFC imports (‘phase-down limits').

Find out more about grandparented and special import permits, and how to apply

See our graph showing the limits on importation of new bulk HFCs in New Zealand for 2020-2036

Read a copy of the Montreal Protocol including the Kigali Amendment - United Nations Environment Programme website

Read more information about carbon dioxide equivalent tonnes and global warming potential