[LCA2015-Chat] Important: NZ Biosecurity + prohibited items

[Ewen McNeill]

On 6/01/15 12:48, Mark Jessop wrote:
> On a related note, does anybody know how NZ customs might react to a bag
> full of electronics kits?

I'm guessing these are kits that will not be leaving the country again 
with you?  In which case it's potentially going to be treated as 
importing commercial goods, eg:

http://www.customs.govt.nz/incommercial/accompanyimports/Pages/default.aspx

If _you_ are taking them out again with you, then it'd probably be 
treated as either "personal allowance" or a temporary import:

http://www.customs.govt.nz/inprivate/sendingitemstonz/temporaryimports/Pages/default.aspx

which gets into the exciting world of ATA Carnets.  (I don't have any 
experience of how closely NZ checks Carnets, but I have read online of 
other countries declaring the whole Carnet invalid if there is any 
mismatch at all from documentation to items either on the way in or out 
-- one assumes those countries were looking for any excuse to collect 
extra tax.)

FWIW, bags are always scanned on the way into New Zealand.  I think 
they're mostly looking for biosecurity risks (eg, unlike departure 
points I've never been asked to pull electronics out to be scanned 
separately).  But AFAIK it's an xray system that would see the same 
things as other xray systems, so I assume they can see "there be 
electronics".

Ewen