//Importing to Australia & New Zealand

Goods valued at NZD 1,000 or more require a formal import entry to New Zealand Customs.

Consignments with a customs value of NZD 1,000 or more must be cleared on an import entry lodged through the Trade Single Window, attracting the Import Entry Transaction Fee together with the Biosecurity System Entry Levy. Below the threshold, duty and GST are generally not collected at the border because GST is collected instead by the offshore supplier under the low-value goods rules. Importers need a Customs client code, and suppliers need supplier codes, before entries can be lodged.

Formal entry at NZD 1,000 or more

Authority

New Zealand Customs Service ↗

Instrument

Customs and Excise Act 2018

Reviewed

2026-07-01

GST is charged at 15% on the value of imported goods including freight, insurance and duty.

New Zealand Customs collects GST at 15% on the customs value plus international freight and insurance plus any duty payable. GST-registered importers claim it back in the relevant GST return. As in Australia, the point for a landed-cost model is that GST is a cash-flow line for a registered business and a real cost for an unregistered one — the two must never be modelled the same way.

Authority

New Zealand Customs Service ↗

Instrument

Goods and Services Tax Act 1985

Reviewed

2026-07-01

Goods of Chinese origin generally enter New Zealand duty-free under the FTA with valid origin documentation.

The New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement, in force since 2008 and since upgraded by protocol, eliminates duty on the great majority of tariff lines. A claim requires the goods to meet the rules of origin, be supported by a Certificate of Origin or an approved declaration, and satisfy the consignment rules. As with ChAFTA, the most common failure is administrative rather than substantive — the goods qualify, but nobody obtained the certificate.

Authority

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ↗

Instrument

New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement

Reviewed

2026-07-01

MPI Import Health Standards set the conditions for risk goods — check the standard before the factory ships.

Risk goods may only be imported in accordance with the applicable Import Health Standard, which can require offshore treatment, certification, permits, or inspection and treatment on arrival. New Zealand's biosecurity regime is among the strictest in the world and is enforced accordingly: non-compliant consignments are held, treated, re-shipped or destroyed at the importer's cost. Timber, bamboo, cane, seeds, used machinery and sea containers all carry specific requirements.

Authority

Ministry for Primary Industries ↗

Instrument

Biosecurity Act 1993

Reviewed

2026-07-01

Solid-wood packaging must be treated and marked to ISPM 15, and dunnage is inspected closely.

Timber packaging, pallets and dunnage must be treated and bear the ISPM 15 mark. MPI inspects for bark, insect damage and untreated timber. Specifying compliant packaging in the purchase order — or requiring plywood or plastic pallets — removes the most common cause of delay at the New Zealand border.

As the importer you are the supplier — and where the maker is offshore, you carry the manufacturer's obligations too.

The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 gives consumers guarantees of acceptable quality, fitness for purpose and correspondence with description, enforceable against the supplier and, where the overseas manufacturer has no New Zealand presence, against the importer as deemed manufacturer. The Fair Trading Act 1986 separately prohibits misleading conduct and false representations, including about origin, standards compliance and endorsement. Between them they mean the quality of what leaves the factory is your legal problem, not the factory's.

Authority

Commerce Commission New Zealand ↗

Instrument

Consumer Guarantees Act 1993; Fair Trading Act 1986

Reviewed

2026-07-01

Mandatory standards apply to specified consumer goods, and unsafe goods can be banned outright.

Product safety standards made under the Fair Trading Act cover goods including children's nightwear, pedal bicycles, household cots, baby walkers, cigarette lighters and children's toys. Supplying goods that do not comply is an offence. MBIE and the Commerce Commission also issue unsafe goods notices banning specific products. As in Australia, compliance evidence must match the exact configuration you are importing.

Declared and high-risk articles require a Supplier Declaration of Conformity and the RCM before sale.

The Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 classify electrical articles as low, medium or high risk. High-risk articles require a Supplier Declaration of Conformity supported by a certificate of conformity or a recognised test report, and the supplier must be identifiable on the product. The RCM is used as the compliance mark. Test evidence issued for the Chinese or European market does not automatically satisfy the New Zealand regulations.

Authority

WorkSafe New Zealand — Energy Safety ↗

Instrument

Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010

Reviewed

2026-07-01

Hazardous substances need an EPA approval before they can be imported or manufactured.

The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act requires substances meeting the hazard classification thresholds to hold an approval, with associated controls on packaging, labelling, safety data sheets, storage and disposal. Group standards cover many common product types. Cosmetics, cleaning products, adhesives, paints, batteries and aerosols are all commonly captured.

Authority

Environmental Protection Authority ↗

Instrument

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996

Reviewed

2026-07-01

Imported food must comply with the Food Act 2014 and the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Importers of food must be registered with MPI, and food must comply with the Food Standards Code including labelling, composition and contaminant limits. High-regulatory-interest foods require additional clearance steps at the border. Food-contact packaging and utensils carry their own requirements.

Authority

Ministry for Primary Industries ↗

Instrument

Food Act 2014; Food Standards Code

Reviewed

2026-07-01

Medical devices must be notified to the Web Assisted Notification of Devices database before supply.

Sponsors must notify medical devices supplied in New Zealand to the WAND database, maintain conformity evidence appropriate to the device classification, and meet advertising and vigilance obligations. Medicines require separate consent to distribute.

Authority

Medsafe ↗

Instrument

Medicines Act 1981; Medicines (Database of Medical Devices) Regulations 2003

Reviewed

2026-07-01

The Incoterm decides where risk and cost transfer — and it is where most quotes stop being comparable.

Incoterms 2020 allocate cost and risk between seller and buyer. An EXW price and a DDP price for the same goods are not comparable numbers, and a factory quoting FOB Shenzhen is quoting a different obligation from one quoting CIF Melbourne. A large share of the 'savings' importers believe they are getting from a cheaper supplier disappears once the quotes are normalised to the same term and the same delivery point. Every landed-cost model we produce is normalised to delivered-to-your-door so the comparison means something.

Authority

International Chamber of Commerce ↗

Instrument

Incoterms 2020

Reviewed

2026-07-01

This library is general guidance. It is not legal, customs, tax or other professional advice.

The compliance information published on this site is general in nature, is not tailored to your circumstances, and does not take account of your particular goods, contracts or tax position. Requirements change, and thresholds and rates published here may not be current at the time you read them. Gateway International is not a licensed customs broker, a legal practice or a registered tax agent. Before relying on any of it, confirm the position with your licensed customs broker, your legal adviser and your accountant. Where we deliver a paid advisory engagement, the scope, assumptions and limitations of what we provide are set out in writing in the engagement itself.