Mahuta Nanaia: Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Mahuta Nanaia: Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:632;Page:4517] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Customs) 
: 
 I move  
That the Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee. Post-9/11 means that we live in a very different global environment. We can no longer assume that New Zealand is safe from international criminal activities such as drug trafficking and terrorism which as we have all seen know no boundaries. The face of New Zealand’s travel and trade landscape is also changing. We are experiencing huge growth in the volume of people and goods crossing our border and with it increasing threats such as illegal migration identity fraud terrorism drugs and international organised crime. That makes it even more important that we move to target such risks effectively and with minimal disruption to legitimate trade and travel. 
Along with those changes the volume and sophistication of organised criminal activity is on the increase which means that our border control activities must evolve to keep pace. Major drug seizures such as the record $135 million drug bust in Auckland in May show that our country continues to be a target for such criminal groups and that we cannot afford to let our guard down. The New Zealand Customs Service represents a first line of defence in helping to keep our borders and our country safe. It is also responsible for helping to ensure the security of our exports and imports which protects New Zealand’s international trading reputation. 
The Government is committed to protecting our communities our people and our economy from those risks. This bill recognises areas of border management where strengthened legislation is needed to help achieve that. The reality of operating in a heightened global security environment means we also have greater national and international obligations around border security and our legislation needs to be strengthened to reflect that. A large number of Government departments have been consulted during the development of this bill and it has been carefully drafted to strike a balance between the need to protect our communities and the rights of individuals. The bill complies with the rights and freedoms contained in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Human Rights Act 1993 as well as relevant international standards and obligations. 
The legislation also supports a whole-of-Government approach to better border management. It addresses limitations in current border powers by extending the range of options that customs officers have available to them in recognition of what is becoming an increasingly complex and changeable border environment. The strengthened legislation will also create better linkages between customs and other border enforcement agencies to ensure people or goods that pose a threat do not slip through the possible gaps in the system. 
That brings me to the content of the bill. This bill strengthens the Customs and Excise Act 1996 to provide for more effective and integrated border management by Government agencies. It also makes minor amendments of a mechanical nature and technical amendments to clarify the Act. 
 The bill’s key provisions include the ability for the Customs Service to deal with risk goods and evidence of offending. Section 175C substituted by clause 15 will help to keep New Zealand’s borders safer by enabling customs officers to refer to other border control agencies any potential risk goods or documents that may be of interest to those agencies. Being able legitimately to pass findings to another agency will have significant benefits for risk management and for the detection of offences. For example currently a customs officer cannot seize any evidence such as documents related to people-smuggling which means that that evidence may not be able to be used in a prosecution. Customs officers already have some powers to hold and refer dangerous goods and those powers will be extended to allow them to hold and refer risk goods to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. 
The second provision in section 175B substituted by clause 15 provides the ability for the Customs Service to retain or seize unlawful travel documents. It gives a customs officer during a search or examination the ability to seize and hold any unlawful travel documents and the equipment used to produce them. The provision recognises the growth of identity fraud and false travel documentation which is of increasing concern to international border control agencies. New Zealand customs officers regularly detect fraudulent identity documents at the border. The ability to search for and seize those false identity documents and the equipment used to produce them is important because such documents can be used to facilitate other types of criminal activity. If those items slip through they can compromise border security and undermine our passport system. Allowing those items to remain in circulation also exposes other countries to the same risks. 
Thirdly there is an obligation on persons to remain at their place of report in New Zealand until border processing is completed under new sections 32B and 32C inserted by clause 6. Those provisions require people travelling to or from New Zealand to remain at the relevant border processing area until they have been cleared. They also provide for the Customs Service to enforce that obligation if people do not comply. The bill also provides for the Customs Service to hold a person arriving in or departing from New Zealand for up to 4 hours in certain cases—for example if there is a threat to the public’s health or safety. Those provisions are important because they enable the Customs Service to refer to other interested agencies anyone who may require further immigration or additional border processing. They also cover cases in which there is reasonable cause to suspect that for example a person has an infectious disease is liable to be arrested or is wanted by police on suspicion of having committed an imprisonable offence. 
New section 32A inserted by clause 6 limits the use of electronic communication devices. That provision provides for limits to be imposed on the use of electronic communications devices in certain border processing areas which means that people may be asked not to use equipment such as their mobile phone while waiting in the primary processing area of an airport. The provision is modelled on Australian legislation that also limits the use of mobile phones in airports for border security reasons. The use of mobile phones or other electronic devices can be used to thwart law enforcement activity at the border. For example drug smugglers can warn associates of impending detection or arrange the destruction of evidence. Mobile phones with cameras can also be used to record images that can later be used to target or threaten officers. It is crucial that we prevent any attempts to thwart customs officers’ work at borders; otherwise we risk threats getting through. However travellers will still be able to use their mobile phones in most parts of airports—for example in those areas used immediately after their arrival and before they reach customs booths. 
New section 168A inserted by clause 14 provides the ability for a customs officer to immediately detain and search a person when executing a search warrant and to seize any dangerous items. Although the Customs Service already has the authority to search a person at the border or during the execution of a search warrant people can currently request to appear before a reviewer before a search can proceed. Because customs officers’ work can place them in dangerous situations the ensuring of their personal safety is crucial. For example when officers are executing a search warrant of a building as part of a drugs investigation they may need to search a person immediately for dangerous items such as firearms or knives. 
There are catch-all export controls for goods with an inappropriate military end use. The bill provides for the ability to impose controls on the export of catch-all goods. Those are goods that are in everyday use but that may be intended for an undesirable purpose such as the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction or of chemical weapons. New Zealand has international obligations to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and many countries already have export controls in place to curb the spread of those devices. It is important for New Zealand’s international reputation particularly as a trading partner to implement such controls yet we are one of a small number of countries that do not impose export controls over catch-all goods. 
There is a provision to enable data matching with the Ministry of Social Development. Since 1991 the Customs Service has regularly provided passenger information to the Ministry of Social Development for the detection of people who leave for or return from overseas while receiving a benefit. The information is compared with the ministry’s database of beneficiaries in order to detect those who have received financial assistance to which they are not entitled. The bill extends the existing provision in the principal Act which authorises the Customs Service to supply data to now include student allowances. 
In conclusion I say that the Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 2) is important legislation that recognises that New Zealand’s trade and travel landscape has changed and is continuing to change and that we must move to keep pace with it. Increasing threats to our communities through terrorism international organised crime drugs identity fraud and other problems mean that we need strong effective legislation and integrated border management in order to deal with those risks at the front line. These amendments have been carefully drafted to recognise the interests of both the Government and the community in effective border management and the rights of people to travel and conduct legitimate trade across borders. This legislation affirms this Government’s commitment to a vibrant economy to strong safe communities and to the protection of our national identity and way of life.