It is no longer illegal to provide drinks for hair salons! New Zealand has finally abolished this weird law…

New Zealand Chinese Pioneer Network Kenny Comprehensive Report The new cabinet has agreed to adopt all four suggestions put forward by the regulatory review of the hairdressing industry, which means that the existing single-in-one hairdressing regulations will be completely abolished.

The regulatory review jointly conducted by the Ministry of Supervision and the Ministry of Health aims to assess whether there are unnecessary or hindering the normal operation of the industry’s regulations currently under the industry, and the ultimate recommendation is to completely repeal the Health (Barbers) Regulations formulated in 1980.

The regulations include prohibiting dogs except guide dogs from entering barber shops and prohibiting clerks from providing refreshments to customers. Regulatory Minister David Seymour pointed out that the regulations have minimal substantial impact on public health, but it has made business and customers feel inconvenient and even frustrated.

Previously, hair salon owner Grant Bettjeman admitted in an interview that he believed the entire industry had “happily ignored” the existence of this strange regulation.

“I can say that almost everything in our industry is offering this kind of service,” he said. “When customers walk into the salon, they not only focus on hairstyles and styling, but also want a pleasant experience here.”

Bettjeman mentioned that they will provide tea, coffee, wine after 5 pm, and even order food in the restaurant next door. He said no health inspector has ever raised any objection to the service.

“We were checked by the health department, but we always maintained strict standards in terms of health and hygiene… In my memory, they never mentioned that we could not serve hot drinks in salons.”

He also added that customers would be “very disappointed” if the salon stopped providing refreshments.

“Imagine that when you’re doing your hair, you can’t flip through the latest magazines while drinking coffee or tea, and this experience will become unacceptable,” he said. “Customers will feel that the service quality is severely declining, and I think it will affect the overall service level of our industry.”

Seymour agrees. He said that under the current system, operators need to abide by health and safety, construction regulations and basic public health standards, so there is no need to continue to use the independent regulations formulated more than 40 years ago. “The existing regulations have not had a substantial impact on safety, but the compliance costs and operational difficulty they bring are frustrating. The elimination of these regulations is expected to save the industry at least $1 million a year,” he said.

The review also repeals regulations prohibiting customers from bringing small pet dogs into the salon. “I don’t mind dogs coming in at all… as long as they don’t bother the other customers in the salon,” Bettjeman said.

However, he also mentioned that the health department has strict regulations on allowing pets in beauty salons. “I always felt that these regulations were a bit too strict,” he said.

According to the review recommendations, the original regulations will be revoked this time and will be supplemented by industry guidelines, while retaining the possibility of formulating more specific regulations as needed in the future. Next, the Ministry of Supervision will work with the Ministry of Health to develop a set of industry guidelines covering sanitation, disinfection and cleaning operations to be consistent with WorkSafe’s current occupational safety guidance documents. In addition, the Ministry of Supervision will work with the Ministry of Justice to respond to public questions about whether alcohol licensing is applicable to the industry.

After the regulations are formally repealed, the regulatory ministry will submit an assessment report within two years to determine whether the existing mechanisms can effectively manage industry risks or whether certain risk-based regulations need to be reintroduced.

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