New Zealand Customs Service

State sector organisation in New Zealand

Law enforcement agency

New Zealand Customs Service
Te Mana Ārai O Aotearoa (Māori)

Agency overview
Formed| 1840
Employees| Approx 1,569[1]
Annual budget| Vote Customs
Total budget for 2022/23
$299,111,000[2]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction| New Zealand
Governing body| New Zealand Government
Constituting instrument|

* Customs and Excise Act 2018

Operational structure
Headquarters| The Customhouse,
1 Hinemoa St,
Harbour Quays,
Wellington
Minister responsible|

* Casey Costello,
Minister of Customs

Agency executive|

* Christine Stevenson,
Chief Executive and Comptroller of Customs

Facilities
Stations| 23
Website
www.customs.govt.nz

The New Zealand Customs Service (Customs, Māori: Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa) is a state sector organisation in New Zealand whose role is to provide border control and protect the community from potential risks arising from international trade and travel, as well as collecting duties and taxes on imports to the country.

## History

[edit]

Customs is the oldest government department in New Zealand.[3] Formed on 5 January 1840, it pre-dates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi by one month.[4] 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 and tobacco.

In 1996, the New Zealand Customs Department was renamed the New Zealand Customs Service.[3]

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.[citation needed]

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.[5]

## Responsibilities

[edit]

A container x-ray inspection unit at Ports of Auckland.

Customs is a law enforcement agency in its own right, and is responsible for intercepting contraband, 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, firearms and hazardous waste 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.[6]

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[citation needed], and with the Department of Conservation on the management of items that are subject to CITES.

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.[7]

Customs is also the administrative body of the New Zealand Government responsible for the domestic collection and control of excise tax on tobacco and alcohol.[citation needed]

## Office locations

[edit]

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.[citation needed]

## Recruitment and training

[edit]

### Recruitment

[edit]

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.[citation needed]

### Training

[edit]

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

[edit]

1. ^ "Annual Report 2022" (PDF). The New Zealand Customs Service.
2. ^ "Vote Customs" (PDF). Budget 2022. The Treasury.
3. ^ a b "Our History". New Zealand Customs Service. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
4. ^ "The Treaty in brief". New Zealand History. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
5. ^ "Government puts $35m towards keeping drugs out of the country". 1News. TVNZ. Archived from the original on 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
6. ^ "Customs e-nabling New Zealand's International Trade". B2BE.
7. ^ "Customs and Excise Act 2018 No 4 (as at 21 June 2023), Public Act 263 Arrest of suspected offenders – New Zealand Legislation". www.legislation.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 November 2024.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Customs services of New Zealand.

* Official website
* Customs and Excise Act 2018

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New Zealand public service departments

Part of the public sector organisations in New Zealand

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Interdepartmental executive boards|

* Border Executive Board
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See also: Ministers in the New Zealand Government

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Customs services by country

Africa|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Benin
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
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* Niger
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* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
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* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* South Africa
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Swaziland
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

Americas|

* Antigua and Barbuda
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* Agency
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* Costa Rica
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Asia|

* Afghanistan
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* Syria
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* Tajikistan
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* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
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* Vietnam
* Yemen

Europe|

* Albania
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Oceania|

* Australia
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* Nauru
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* Palau
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* Samoa
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* Tonga
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* Vanuatu

International|

* World Customs Organization
* European Union

Non-recognized|

* Abkhazia
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* Transnistria

Defunct|

* Australia (till 2009)
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Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
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National|

* United States

Other|

* Yale LUX

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