Importing household goods and personal effects into New Zealand can either be done via air or sea. You should check the prohibited and restricted items list to ensure that you are able to import your household goods and personal effects when shipping to New Zealand.
Once you are sure that you are able to ship certain items over to New Zealand there are certain steps that need to be taken to ensure that this process goes as smoothly as it can.
Whether you are shipping your household goods and personal effects to New Zealand by air or sea there are certain steps that need to be taken to ensure that this is done correctly. Firstly you need to fill in an Unaccompanied Personal Baggage declaration. Along with this form it is essential that you produce a list naming each of your household goods and personal effects. To help you do this you should number each of the boxes that you are shipping and write a list that corresponds to each of the boxes. This enables you to locate your items and also allows officials to carry out any checks that need to be taken.
When your personal effects and household goods have been shipped to New Zealand the shipping containers will be thoroughly inspected internally and externally to ensure that they are free of contamination. You also need to state what packaging materials were used to ship your items across to New Zealand.
In general all of youre owned and used household goods and personal effects, which includes clothing, jewellery etc are admitted duty free and GST free as long as you are:
- Coming to New Zealand intending to take up permanent residence (and have been granted residency status) or you are on a Work Permit for at least 12 months
- Returning New Zealand having lived outside of New Zealand at least 21 months (or provide documentary proof that the consignment was shipped from New Zealand)
Other documentation that are required by New Zealand customs include:
- Your passport, photocopies are not acceptable
- Receipts for recently purchased household items.
Once all of your completed documentation has been presented to the New Zealand Clearance Service, an Officer will screen the declaration(s), along with the list of contents, against any relevant Import Health Standards to determine risk status. So when it comes to shipping your household goods and personal effects to New Zealand you must ensure that you have all of the necessary documentation otherwise your shipment will be delayed and you may be fined.
