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| | | Hamilton Airport back on international radar | | | Hamilton Airport has reopened as an international gateway on Monday 16 June for the first time in more than a decade.
Customs and our border partners are proud to support the incoming increase in regional tourism and look forward to welcoming travellers to the mighty Waikato.
Jetstar will operate seven trans-Tasman services per week out of Hamilton: three return flights to and from the Gold Coast, and four return flights between Hamilton and Sydney. | | | | | | | | | | 
| | | Checkmate by Customs over methamphetamine smuggling | | | Customs arrested a 26-year-old Christchurch man, who appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday (17 June) on four charges of importing methamphetamine hidden in a chess set, e bike battery and air fryers.
Customs' investigations linked the defendant to multiple border seizures of methamphetamine smuggled through international mail between March 2024 and April 2025 with the packages delivered to Christchurch addresses.
Customs has linked four interceptions totalling approximately 1.64 kilograms of methamphetamine to this investigation. This amount of drugs would have had a street value of an estimated NZ$494,000, and these seizures have prevented an estimated NZ$1.73 million of harm and cost to New Zealand communities. | | | | | | | | | | 
| | | New online form for general enquiries and service delivery requests to launch next week | | | Customs will launch a new online service request form next week as part of our efforts to improve service delivery.
The new form can be used to submit general enquires. It will eventually replace the current service.delivery@customs.govt.nz email address. Submissions using the new form will feed directly into Zendesk, our new ticket management system. This change means Customs officers will track and process requests more efficiently, and with better response times.
To make the transition smooth, we will keep service.delivery@customs.govt.nz active for a short time following the launch of this new online form. Customers can still send service requests using this email address, but we encourage you to start using the new form as soon as it is available. | | | | | | | | | 
| | | Updated Working Tariff Document is now available | | | The updated Working Tariff Document is now available online on Customs website.
As an interim measure, Customs has uploaded two electronic documents of the updated Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (EEDT) pending sign-off by Order in Council, amending the EEDT for the Petroleum and Engine Fuel Monitoring (PEFM) Levy.
This approach has been taken to provide advance notice of changes that will take effect from 1 July 2025. | | | | | | | | | | 
| | | Goods fees rates will change from 1 July 2025 | | | On 10 March 2025, as part of decisions on goods cost recovery, Cabinet agreed to update Customs' goods fee rates with effect from 1 July 2025.
Visit our website to see the rates that will apply from 1 July 2025. | | | | | | | | | | 
| | | New excise duty rates and alcohol levy rates for alcohol on 1 July 2025 | | | The annual adjustment to the excise and excise-equivalent duty rates on alcoholic beverages will take effect on 1 July 2025.
The annual adjustment is based on movements in the Consumer Price Index All Groups excluding credit services subgroup over the 12-month period ended 31 March 2025.
Changes to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Alcohol Levy rates will be advised by the Ministry of Health when they are available. | | | | | | | | | | 
| | | Customs intercepts 25 kilograms of methamphetamine in unaccompanied bag | | | Customs officers at Auckland Airport seized approximately 25 kilograms of methamphetamine from an unaccompanied bag on 14 June 2025.
The bag arrived on a flight from San Francisco and was referred to Customs by border partners who noticed some inconsistencies in x-ray imaging.
Upon further inspection, Customs officers located a vacuum-sealed package, which tested positive for methamphetamine.
Chief Customs Officer, Tracy Henderson, says it has been a busy year for the Auckland Airport team, and many of the successes were the result of the trust and respect amongst partner and border agencies. | | | | | | | | | | 
| | | Customs arrests two people for concealed cigarettes | | | Customs has arrested a 32-year-old woman and 34-year-old man on Monday (16 June) at Auckland Airport, before they could leave the country, following a Customs investigation that identified mail packages believed to contain illicit tobacco that were linked to the two defendants.
Frontline Customs officers were able to detect the concealment of cigarettes using state-of-the-art x-ray technology at the new Auckland Processing Centre.
To date, Customs has seized an estimated 486,200 cigarettes that are believed to be attributed to the two individuals. This equates to NZ$734,528.85 (duty and GST) in revenue evasion.
The two defendants have been charged with defrauding Customs revenue; offences in relation to declarations and documents that are erroneous; and importing prohibited goods. The case is now before the courts. | | | | | | | | | 
| | | Self-declaration for exporters | | | Approved exporters can now self-declare the New Zealand origin of their goods to claim preferential tariff treatment under selected Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
These are the:
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
- New Zealand - China Free Trade Agreement (NZ-China FTA)
-Second Protocol to the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA)
Self-declaration can save businesses time and money, eliminating the need to go to an issuing body to obtain a Certificate of Origin.
Full details are available on Customs' website. | | | | | | | | | | 
| | | Celebrate Matariki tomorrow | | | Tomorrow is a public holiday marking Matariki. As the stars of the Matariki cluster rise in the winter sky, they signal a time of remembrance, reflection, and renewal across Aotearoa. Matariki is a special period that connects us to the land, the sky, and each other.
We would like to wish you all a safe and wonderful Matariki with whanau and friends. | | | | | | | | | 
| | | MFAT Market Intelligence Reports | | | The latest edition of the weekly global trade and economic update for New Zealand businesses has been published. | | | | | | | | |