The New Zealand government has recently introduced new legislation to New Zealand’s Parliament to update the regulation of gene technology.

One aspect of the proposed legislation that is likely to be of interest to the Effective Altruism community is that it would enable the creation of regulations for nucleic acid synthesis screening and benchtop nucleic acid synthesis equipment. 

Judging by the current wording of the legislation, should these regulations be developed: 

• New Zealand-based providers of synthetic nucleic acid would be required to screen customers and their orders, and
• New Zealand-based manufacturers of benchtop nucleic acid synthesis equipment would be required to screen customers and to integrate into their equipment the ability to screen customer requests.

To my knowledge, these regulations would make New Zealand the first country in the world to legislatively require nucleic acid screening.

For those interested in having their say on this legislation and writing in support of these regulations, the public comment period is currently open and closes in 11 days at 11:59 PM on Monday, 17 February 2025 (New Zealand time).