New Zealand Customs Service

The New Zealand Customs Service (Customs, Māori: Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa) is a state sector organisation and law enforcement agency 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 Customs is the oldest government department in New Zealand. Formed on 5 January 1840, it pre-dates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi 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 and tobacco. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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. All officers are able to make arrests in relation to offences relating to the importation of drugs and other prohibited goods. Rank badges Chief executive The highest-ranked officer and chief executive is formally titled the Chief Executive and Comptroller of the New Zealand Customs Service. They are appointed by the Public Service Commissioner, after approval by the Governor-General of New Zealand and recommendation from the Minister for the Public Service. The first holder of the office was George Cooper, appointed in 1840 after travelling from New South Wales with William Hobson. The current officeholder is Christine Stevenson, appointed on 1 January 2019. 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. References External links Official website Customs and Excise Act 2018