Whaitiri MekaCUSTOMS AND EXCISE BILLThird ReadingHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): I move That the Customs and Excise Bill be now read a third time.In 2013 a review was undertaken to address concerns about the extensively amended Customs and Excise Act 1996. Indeed some parts of the Act are over 20 years old and other parts over 50 and 100 years old. The amendments have been required so that the Act could keep pace with the changes in trade travel security and technology. However these amendments created a complex piece of legislation that is difficult to use. The Act is out of step with modern business practices and if it was not replaced with the new bill would require frequent future amendments to respond efficiently to changes in technology and business practices.After extensive consultation with stakeholders including businesses and industry organisations that use and are regulated by the current legislation the Customs and Excise Bill was developed and introduced to Parliament in late 2016. The bill was referred to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee which considered public submissions on the draft bill before reporting back to the House with recommendations in May 2017. I would like to thank the select committee for its consideration of the bill and for its valuable recommendations. I'd also like to recognise and thank all those stakeholders who have contributed to the bill. Many businesses and industry organisations made submissions on the bill and worked closely with the New Zealand Customs Service to help produce a bill that will facilitate international trade and make business easier.This new transparent and easy-to-use legislation will enable the New Zealand Customs Service to more effectively manage the movement of people and goods into and out of New Zealand. It will provide the tools needed to protect New Zealand from people or goods that may cause harm balance the protection of the nation with individuals' rights enable customs to quickly adopt future changes in technology and business practice and support economic growth by making it easier for traders to do business. The bill also facilitates greater information-sharing between customs and other Government agencies for the disclosure of information on people and goods crossing the border for national security law enforcement and public health and safety purposes. I'd like to stress that this increased availability of information is balanced by specific protections and the standardisation of the process for information disclosure. The protections applying to the disclosure of information are strengthened by limiting the grounds for disclosure of sensitive passenger information and requiring disclosure agreements to be made by Ministers not chief executives and to be published.Customs' use of biometric information and its storage—for as long as the purpose for which it was collected exists—are made very clear in the bill. This is a confirmation of the existing legislative position. The bill also allows biometric identity checks to be requested when a traveller's identity is in question. I would like to thank the Privacy Commissioner who had a significant contribution to make to the development of the bill and who gave advice to the select committee to ensure a bill that balances protection of New Zealand with the protection of personal privacy.The major change however that this bill makes is to modernise the language and structure of the Customs and Excise Act to make it easier to understand and interpret for all who use it. Some of the main changes contained in the bill are that importers who bring goods into New Zealand where it is not possible to know the final value of goods at the date of import will have the flexibility to declare a provisional value for imported goods and then provide customs with the final value once it is known. The bill gives customs the ability to issue binding rulings on the valuation of imported goods. Valuing goods for the purpose of import can be complex and this provision will provide importers with more certainty over how much duty they will owe in certain circumstances. The bill also provides greater clarity about the excise system which will assist business and protect Crown revenue. Businesses will have flexibility about where they store their business records as the bill allows these records to be stored in the cloud and offshore reflecting today's modern business practices. A new customs process for appeals over duty assessments will be simpler and cheaper for those wanting a less formal way to resolve disputes over customs decisions about how much duty is owed. There are not many who do not comply with the legislation but for those who don't comply the bill updates and extends customs sanctions so they maintain relativity with sanctions across the Customs and Excise Act and with comparable sanctions in other Acts. Administrative penalties will apply to all export entries to ensure that customs has accurate information to give our trading partners assurance and to protect New Zealand's trading reputation. An infringement notice scheme for minor offending will replace petty offences increasing fairness and transparency. The details of this scheme will be set by regulation.The bill confirms the majority of existing customs powers. The bill continues to recognise that a balance is needed between protecting privacy and ensuring that customs can contribute to protect our border. Customs officers will be able to undertake controlled deliveries across a wider range of goods to investigate smuggling. Public concerns about customs powers to examine and access electronic devices have been addressed through a two-stage search threshold based on officers having a reasonable suspicion or belief of offending. Travellers crossing the border will be obliged to make all goods in their possession available for examination including providing access to their electronic devices when officers suspect or believe offending has occurred. These powers provide the scope and flexibility needed to detect and prevent smuggling and manage national security risk.The bill balances the protection of New Zealand with individual rights. It provides modern and accessible legislation that makes individuals' and businesses' obligations clearer and improves assurances over the collection of revenue. I commend this bill to the House.