The New Zealand Customs Service (Customs, ) is a state sector organisation in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

whose role is to provide

border control Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

and protect the community from potential risks arising from

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...

and

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), locations. Travel can be done by Pedestrian, foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without Baggage, luggage, a ...

, as well as collecting duties and

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

es on imports to the country.

History

Customs is the oldest government department in New Zealand. Formed on 5 January 1840, it pre-dates the signing of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

by one month. Its early establishment was necessary to collect revenue for the fledgling government, and over the years duties, tariffs and taxes collected by Customs have remained a major source of revenue for the country, although customs has also been used to impose various control over the movement of people and the distribution of particular products, in particular

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. In 1996, the New Zealand Customs Department was renamed the New Zealand Customs Service. In recent years Customs has modernised itself in order to keep pace with new technologies and the ever-increasing volumes of international passengers and trade, while balancing its law enforcement and compliance obligations. Staffing levels sit between 1300 and 1500 nationally, with its head office located in Wellington. Staff are based at various ports and locations around New Zealand and are a mixture of frontline uniformed staff such as those seen at the airports and sea ports, as well as plainclothes staff in varying other roles. In May 2025, Customs Minister Casey Costello announced that the New Zealand Government would allocate funds from the 2025 New Zealand budget to create a new overseas-based officer to assist with investigations and information sharing.

Responsibilities

Customs is a law enforcement agency in its own right, and is responsible for intercepting

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

, and checks international travellers and their baggage, as well as cargo and mail, for banned or prohibited items. Contrary to popular belief, it is not responsible for biosecurity items such as food and other agricultural items declared at ports of entry - this is the responsibility for the Ministry for Primary Industries. Customs is also responsible for assessing and collecting Customs duties, excise taxes and Goods and Services Tax on imports and protecting New Zealand businesses against illegal trade. It is second only to the Inland Revenue Department for the amount of revenue it collects for the New Zealand Government. It exercises controls over restricted and prohibited imports and exports, including objectionable material (such as child sex abuse images),

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...

and

hazardous waste Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is Toxicity, toxic, Chemical reaction, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is Corrosion, corrosive, ...

and also collects import and export data. Customs is responsible for documentation of all imports and exports (in 2006/7 this was 47 million imports and 33 million exports). Since 1999 all documentation to Customs has been electronic. Customs works closely with New Zealand's other border agencies, the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Aviation Security Service (AvSec) and Immigration New Zealand. It also works very closely with the New Zealand Police and the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand in joint operations involving the importation of drugs, and with the Department of Conservation on the management of items that are subject to

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

. Customs established the Trade Single Window in 2013 to provide a single place to lodge import and export documents with all of New Zealand Government. Whilst an unarmed agency, some Customs officers are authorised to carry handcuffs and make arrests in relation to offences relating to the importation of drugs and other prohibited goods. Customs is also the administrative body of the New Zealand Government responsible for the domestic collection and control of

excise tax file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

and

Office locations

Customs officers are based at the main cities in New Zealand, as well as a number of smaller ports. Its headquarters is in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city. Customs also has liaison officers based at the following overseas locations: Bangkok, Beijing, Brussels, Canberra, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

Recruitment and training

Recruitment

Customs conducts national intakes, with the number of intakes per year varying dependent on the needs of the Service. Typically each intake will consist of 20–30 recruits who are referred to as 'cohorts'. Recruiting usually begins with Customs advertising nationwide, calling for applications for persons who meet requisite criteria. Applications are then reviewed and accepted or rejected. The majority of applicants are culled at this initial stage. Persons who pass the initial application process are then invited to 'open days' at central locations (usually Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) during which they are given insights into the various roles Customs undertakes as well as being placed into groups and are assessed during group problem solving scenarios, where individuals are observed by assessors and are judged on various factors such as interaction, initiative and leadership traits. Those who are deemed suitable must then pass an interview, police checks and medical test before being offered a space on the next intake.

Training

Training consists of a 3-week, classroom based course. This is gives new cohorts basic knowledge in Customs, processing passports under the Immigration Act, relevant legislation, questioning techniques, officer safety and tactics training, and presentations from various other work areas in Customs. During the course, multiple examinations are undertaken, and if passed, new cohorts will be awarded their "stripes" in the form of epaulettes. Following the classroom course, there is on-the-job training. At the conclusion of all training, cohorts will have a graduation ceremony where they will be awarded with a certificate confirming their graduation.

References

External links

*
Customs and Excise Act 2018
{{authority control Customs services Foreign trade of New Zealand Specialist law enforcement agencies of New Zealand New Zealand Public Service departments