New Zealand border control has strict rules on what you can bring into the country.
The majority of restricted or prohibited items are those which pose a biosecurity risk to
New Zealand’s fragile and unique environment.
For this reason, it’s best to be mindful about what you pack in your luggage for New
Zealand and know what you need to declare when arriving in New Zealand.
We’ll go through all that and more coming up in this video.
Hey guys, we’re Robin and Laura, the team behind BackpackerGuide.NZ, helping you plan
an epic trip to New Zealand.
In this video, we’ll go over examples of everything you need to declare when arriving
in New Zealand.
If you’ve heard anything about arriving in New Zealand or watched our advice video
on everything you need to know about arriving in a New Zealand airport, then you’ll know
that there are certain things you can’t bring into New Zealand and others that you
need to declare.
If you are unsure of something you bringing into New Zealand, it doesn’t harm to declare
it anyway.
Failure to declare a risk item or falsely declaring an item will incur an instant NZ$400
fine, and either your item being sent for treatment at your expense, treated at the
airport at your expense, or destroyed.
To avoid this situation, just keep on watching so you know what you need to declare.
And by the way, if you’re new here, why not hit the subscribe button!
You’ll see more videos to help you plan your trip to New Zealand, it will support
making more videos like this one, and it’s free!
And with that, let’s get on with the video.
First up, what Food should you Declare when arriving in New Zealand?
You must declare all food that you are bringing into New Zealand.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t bring food into NZ, but you must declare it.
However, there are a few food items that you absolutely cannot bring with you into the
country.
That includes: fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat or fish, honey and bee products.
For other food items, you can generally bring food into New Zealand that has been commercially
prepared and packaged, is shelf-stable, in other words it is safe to eat within 4 months
without being stored in a refrigerator, and unopened.
Again, all food must be declared.
Baked goods are allowed as long as they don’t contain fresh fruit, raw nuts and fillings
such as meat or whole egg.Confectionery foods like sweets and lollies can be brought into
New Zealand as long as they don’t contain: liquid honey or other bee products, such as
propolis.
loose fresh fruit.
loose raw seeds.
citrus peel but candied citrus peel is Ok. and meat products.
Teas with no restrictions include common teas like Early Grey, English Breakfast, Green,
and Chamomile that can be either loose or in a sealed teabag.
That also goes for Kombucha tea and herbal teas in a sealed teabag, not hand tied.
However, loose herbal teas and Canton Love-Pea Tea will require treatment at the border but
this would most likely ruin the tea.
Tea containing honey powder needs to be shelf-stable and be limited to 50 teabags or less per passenger.
Finally, you can only bring honey into New Zealand if it is honey that was produced and
packaged in New Zealand and the packaging is tamper-proof sealed.
Maple syrup is fine as long as it does not contain honey.
So how much food can you bring into New Zealand?
There are weight restrictions on food, which are as follows:
For liquid food such as fruit juice and soup you can bring up to 10l.
For concentrated liquid food like concentrated juice boxes or condensed soup, for example,
you can bring up to 2l.
For Solid foods it’s up to 10kg.
For moisture reduced foods such as freeze dried meals it’s up to 2kg
And you can bring up to 1kg of Spices.
Hey, we hope you are keeping up with this list of things you need to declare.
We know it’s pretty long.
But if you’re understanding everything so far, comment below with the phrase: “NZ
don’t want yo honey”.
Next up, let’s talk about Declaring animals and animal products.
You can’t bring any live animals in New Zealand without a permit.
We don’t recommend bringing pets into New Zealand, because, why would you?
But if you are thinking about it, check out our article about bringing pets into New Zealand
linked up in the description.
Souvenirs, ornaments, novelty items and jewellery that have any part made from animal fibres
or feathers and/or animals hides and skins must be declared.
It is likely that they will need to be inspected and they could require treatment.
There are also a few prohibited animal products that you should avoid bringing into New Zealand
all together, which include: Asian medicine.
feathers.
eggs.
meat.
honey and honey products, including cosmetics, health supplements and medicines.
shells and clams.
ivory.
turtle shell items.
coral. and snakeskin or whalebone products.
And now, what about Declaring plants and Plant products?
All plant material needs to be declared.
Many plants and plant products either need to be treated, need a permit or are strictly
prohibited.
Examples of the type of plant products you should declare include:dried and fresh flowers.
seeds.
plant cuttings.
items made of bamboo, cane, rattan, coconut or straw.
items made of wood, such as, drums, carvings, masks, weapons, or tools.
pine cones.
any souvenirs made from plant material, such as items stuffed with seeds and straw.
herbal medicines, health supplements and homeopathic remedies.
and religious offerings.
Now let’s go over declaring used outdoor equipment.
You must declare any used items that have been used in the outdoors, such as fishing,
gardening, hiking and camping.
This covers a broad spectrum of items, so if you are unsure about any of your outdoor
gear, declare it anyway.
We also recommend packing these items so they are easy to reach in your luggage in case
they need to be inspected.
So the Used outdoor gear you need to declare includes:
Footwear that has been used outside of urban areas, such as hiking shoes, gaiters and sports
shoes.
Footwear should be cleaned of soil and seeds before arriving in New Zealand.
Declare camping equipment including tents and camping food.
Declare hunting gear including backpacks and clothing.
Declare any gear used with animals, such as horse riding equipment, farm footwear, vet
supplies and shearing equipment and clothes used while shearing.
Declare gardening equipment.
And declare equipment used in horticulture, viticulture, apiculture, aquaculture, and
forestry industries, including clothes, footwear and tools.
On top of all that you will also need to declare any gear that is used in water activities.
This includes, but is not limited to fishing gear including waders, fishing rods, lines,
hooks and flies.
And swimming and diving equipment like wet suits and scuba equipment.
Just note that there are some restrictions on Water Activity Gear.
For example, there are strict restrictions on felt-soled waders for fishing, which are
likely to be seized at the border.
Plus, felt-soled waders are prohibited in freshwater in New Zealand.
While fly ties are allowed, non-artificial ties must meet the Import Health Standard,
so could be seized for inspection, treatment or be destroyed.
And all freshwater equipment and fishing gear must be clean and dried before you bring it
into New Zealand.
Wet gear will likely be treated or reshipped at your expense or destroyed.
So what other biosecurity risk items do you need to declare?
Other items you have to declare include items you might be importing like machinery, a vehicle
or machinery parts.
Containers and cargo must also comply with the Import Health Standard.
You must also declare anything associated with water like salt or freshwater products.
This could include: sea shells.
any fish and shellfish.
seaweed, algae, aquarium plants, and seeds.
micro-organisms.
diving, swimming, and fishing equipment.
You will also need to declare endangered species products
New Zealand is part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species agreement.
Items from endangered species will not be allowed in New Zealand, including items such
as: ivory.
turtle shell artifacts.
clam shells.
coral.
snakeskin products.
whalebone products.
Chinese medicines.
So that’s all the things you need to declare for biosecurity reasons.
But is there anything else you need to declare?
Yes, so you need to declare if you have gone over any of the duty-free allowances.
You can bring alcohol and tobacco into New Zealand if you are 17 years old and above.
If you bring alcohol or tobacco which is above the duty-free allowance then you will need
to pay duty for the remainder.
Duty-free items must be for personal use, not for commercial use.
The Alcohol duty-free allowance is 4.5l of wine or beer and 3 bottles of spirits or liqueur.
Each bottle can hold up to 1.125l.
The Tobacco duty-free allowance is 50 cigarettes, 50g of tobacco products, 50g of cigars, or
a mixture of all three, as long as it’s no more than 50g total.
You will also need to declare any prescribed medication or controlled drugs.
You will be able to bring prescribed medication into New Zealand as long as you have copy
of the medicine’s prescription or a letter from your doctor stating that you or someone
that you’re travelling with is being treated with the medicine, and if the medication is
in its original pharmacy container with your name and strength and dosage details shown
on the label.
You can bring no more than a supply for three months except oral contraceptive pills can
be up to six months’ supply.
If you think you need to get prescribed medication while in New Zealand then check out our article
on how to get a medical prescription in New Zealand in the description below.
Another thing to declare is If you have more than NZ$10,000 or the foreign equivalent in
cash.
If you did, it is likely that you will need to fill out a Cash Border Control form.
And finally, you must declare goods that are worth more than NZ$700, not including your
clothes, jewellery and toiletries, as you may have to pay duty fees or Goods and Services
Tax.
Ok, seriously well done for making it this far in this mammoth list of things you need
to declare when arriving in New Zealand.
Just to round up, here’s all of those items listed in a nutshell, because who the hell
can remember all that?
In short, when you arrive in New Zealand you must declare…
Any food.
Animal or animal products.
Plants or plant products.
Other biosecurity risk items like animal medicines, biological cultures, organisms, soil or water.
Equipment used with animals, plants or water.
Items that have been used for outdoor or farming activities.
Alcohol and tobacco over the duty-free allowance.
Prescription medicines.
More than NZ$10,000 in cash.
More than NZ$700 worth of goods not including your clothes, toiletries and jewellery.
Phew, you made it through.
That’s it for what you need to declare at customs in New Zealand but before you go,
give this video a quick like right now and we can talk some more in the comments section
below.
For some slightly more fun stuff to do with New Zealand, don’t miss New Zealand’s
Biggest Gap Year, which is our epic vlog about tackling 365 activities in 365 days!
Until next time, keep exploring.