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NZ Customs Clearance

Once you have arrived in New Zealand you will be required to complete an Unaccompanied Baggage Declaration in order that your personal effects can be customs cleared and delivered. These documents will be supplied by Transworld and our import staff will assist with their completion and answer any of your questions. If you are a first time immigrant with the authority to take up permanent residency, a returning New Zealander who has been absent for more than 21 months, or an immigrant with a work permit for more than one year, your household and personal effects will be admitted duty free and exempt of GST (Goods and Services Tax). Having said this, the effects in question must have been owned and used prior to shipping, be for your personal use and must not be of a commercial or business nature.

If you are a New Zealand resident returning within 21 months of leaving New Zealand you will be required to pay duty and GST on all items purchased overseas (excluding clothing, footwear, jewellery and toiletries intended for your own use). Proof of export will be required for items originally shipped from New Zealand, while purchase receipts/invoices will generally be required for those items purchased overseas. To avoid delays with the customs process, it is recommended that these documents are carried in hand luggage, rather than contained in your seafreight/airfreight shipment.

Regardless of your status on arrival into New Zealand, alcohol cigarettes, cigars and tobacco arriving separately from yourself will incur duty and GST. However, where proof can be provided that wine is part of a collection, duties and taxes will not be incurred.

Legacies can be imported by New Zealand domiciled residents as long as it can be proved that the legacy is a genuine bequest and that the recipient is a legal beneficiary. Proof of this can be supplied by obtaining a statutory declaration and a copy of a Will or letter from the Solicitor or Trustee handling the estate. The legacy cannot be used for trade or business purposes.

Prohibited Imports

The following items are prohibited into New Zealand including but not limited to: objectionable (indecent) material reproduced on video tapes, films, records, CD-Rom's or DVD's. Controlled drugs of any kind including LSD, heroin, cocaine, cannabis and cannabis/drug paraphernalia (whether used or not), ecstasy, steroids or performance enhancing drugs.

Prescription medicines are restricted, must be in their original container and evidence provided to prove they were prescribed to you by a medical practitioner. For further information on importing personal effects into New Zealand please contact us.

Motor Vehicles

Tax free concessionary entry for motor vehicles is available to immigrants taking up permanent residency for the first time and returning New Zealand residents that have been absent from New Zealand for more than 21 months. To qualify you need to have owned and used the vehicle for more than 1 year prior to export. With a concessionary entry, all importers will need to be interviewed by New Zealand Customs and sign a deed of undertaking that they will not sell the vehicle within 2 years of its arrival in New Zealand.

All other import situations will attract Customs GST (Goods Service Tax) at 15.0% on the value of the vehicle. Work out vehicle depreciation rates.

Customs will require the following documents: Passports, invoice receipt showing total price paid and date of purchase, registration papers or Certificate of Permanent Export (UK), Certificate of Title (USA), or De-registration Certificate (Japan), invoice showing export costs (Japan), invoice showing freight costs and insurance to New Zealand, odometer reading at time of importation into New Zealand.  Do not leave any documents in the vehicle and do not pack personal belongings in your vehicle.

The company you have arranged to ship the vehicle with, will need to advise Transworld five days prior to the vessels arrival - the make, model, cc rating of engine, VIN (vehicle identification number), chassis number, year of manufacture and copy of the Bill of Lading.

Compliance

When you are preparing to ship your vehicle to New Zealand it is important to make sure that it will comply to the stringent New Zealand safety regulations prior to export. If you ship the vehicle to New Zealand and it does not comply you will need to export the vehicle out of New Zealand at your expense. Compliance certificates will only be recognised when issued by the agent in New Zealand representing the make of your vehicle. Compliance certificates issued at country of origin will not be recognised. Left hand drive vehicles have restricted entry. Contact us for more information regarding compliance.

Registration

When the vehicle has passed its compliance, it can be registered with NZ Post.  On payment of NZ Road Tax the license plates will be issued.

Note: Customs regulations change from time to time without warning, check prior to shipping to make sure your goods will not attract duty or GST.