NZ Customs Release

The Government has agreed settings changes for Customs Border Processing Levies.

The proposed new Customs levy rates, along with new cap settings, are laid out below. They will apply from 1 December 2024 and will end on 30 June 2027. These will be set by the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Customs Service before 1 December 2024. 

Final rates will be set out in the New Zealand Gazette, once notified by the Chief Executive.

All figures $ per traveller; GST exclusive:
Arriving cruise ship travellers: (Caps) 28.50, (Proposed Levy rates) 27.14 

Departing cruise ship travellers: (Caps) 0.71, (Proposed Levy rates) 0.68 

Arriving air and sea travellers other than cruise travellers (non-cruise):  (Caps) 13.69, (Proposed Levy rates) 13.04 

Departing air and sea travellers other than cruise travellers (non-cruise):  (Caps) 3.80, (Proposed Levy rates) 3.62

As signalled in the consultation, the Ministry for Primary Industries is proposing to keep the existing biosecurity levy rates. As a result, their Levy Order will not change.

MyCustoms Account is Customs' self-service digital platform for brokers and importers with deferred payment accounts. With MyCustoms Account you are able to view your account balance, available credit, and transaction history. You can also download your deferred payment account statements.
 
Since its launch, we've received client feedback that it is simple, quick and easy to find information online through MyCustoms Account. Clients added this was great as they received information instantaneously and didn't need to wait for a response over phone or by email.     
 
Due to the success of the platform, from 30th September we will no longer be responding to telephone or email requests for information that can be accessed via MyCustoms Account. This will enable us to speed up our responses to other requests for information that cannot be found on MyCustoms Account.
 
If you have not signed up to MyCustoms Account, please email revenue@customs.govt.nz.

A 46-year-old Auckland businessman was sentenced to seven months home detention in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday after Customs prosecuted him for smuggling approximately 984 kilograms of undeclared chewing tobacco and evading approximately NZ$267,390 in duty and taxes.

Vivek Brahmbhatt and his business - R D Import Limited were convicted under the Customs and Excise Act 2018 for defrauding Customs revenue and making erroneous import entries.

Customs' investigations identified that the chewing tobacco had been smuggled across 13 separate shipments via air, sea and mail cargo, with one single shipment alone totalling 754.6 kilograms.

Border agencies around the world converged at Melbourne Airport (9-13 September) to counter criminal infiltration of international supply chains.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) hosted officers from the New Zealand Customs Service, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and US Customs & Border Protection for a week of training, tradecraft and capability-building to tackle the threats posed by insiders within the aviation environment.

Highlights of the week included several practical training exercises focused on aircraft search techniques allowing agencies to learn from each other's experience.