Recently on Standards New Zealand website NZS 5454:1989 Standard requirements for lightweight steel automotive compressed natural gas cylinders for use in New Zealand has been WITHDRAWN without replacement. It is a big achievement for any standard to be perfect enough to be used continuously for more than 25 years without a revision.
Possible reasons:
Any official reasons for withdrawal have not been published. This provides the chance for speculation. A possible reason may be that CNG use has declined to a level that no more CNG cylinders are being made. Quick searches such as "CNG cylinder manufacturer in New Zealand" or "CNG cylinder made in NZ" returned no relevant results. There are news links on the internet that show New Zealand had rapidly converted to other fuels given reduction in import price and depletion of New Zealand's own natural gas reserves (does it sound familiar? Similar to what happened in Pakistan 2-3 years ago).
Plus, New Zealand has a small population. Wikipedia reports that at the peak usage of CNG, there were 110,000 CNG vehicles in New Zealand, which consist of 10% of the total number of vehicles. The same article notes that there are 2,850,000 CNG vehicles in Pakistan. Note the difference of order of magnitude.
Given the shortage of natural gas, and also given that New Zealand is a modern and highly developed country, they probably moved from CNG to other fuels a long time ago and may see no need to keep a standard from the last century "CURRENT".
What effect does it have on Pakistan?
No effect, if at all.
1) CNG imports are banned.
2) Pakistan is not a manufacturer of CNG cylinders.
3) CNG is not available.
4) Government introduced a CNG phase-out in 2012 which had to be completed in three years. Those three years will be up soon.
In addition, New Zealand made the standard for their own use. Now if other countries have adopted the standard, the only effect it could have is to make the Kiwis proud. The same way, when they withdrew the standard, they withdrew it from their society. They did not order other sovereign countries to abandon using the standard. The document is still available for purchase if someone inside or outside needs it.
What does WITHDRAWAL mean?
As you see, standards are specifications. The are also the law. When the standard was CURRENT, people needed to follow it. Now the standard has been WITHDRAWN in New Zealand, it has ceremonial value in the library for the purpose of record and/or reference. It has lost its have legally binding power (in New Zealand only, in Pakistan it is still adopted and enacted).
