Shipping Household Goods to New Zealand:
Customs and Biosecurity
Will Your Goods Come In
Free of Duty and GST?
# 
New Zealand Customs says most of your household goods can come in with no duty or GST if three things are true. The three tests are set by concession 80 of its Working Tariff (Part II, effective 20 October 2026):
- Residence document: On the day your goods are imported, you hold one of these seven documents Customs accepts:
- a New Zealand passport
- an Australian passport
- a current New Zealand residence visa or returning resident's visa
- a current Australian permanent residence visa, including a resident return visa
- a current work visa issued for at least 12 months
- a current work visa under the Work to Residence or Long Term Business category
- a current visitor's visa issued for at least 3 years
- 21 months outside New Zealand: You're moving to New Zealand for the first time or moving back, and you have lived outside it for the whole 21 months before you arrive. Customs' household-effects page makes an exception for brief trips.
- Your own used goods: You personally owned and used the goods before you left for New Zealand, and they are for your own use, not for someone else, a gift or exchange.
A student visa does not qualify, though Customs says you may bring what your studies need.
Customs sets no minimum time you must have owned your goods. What counts is that you owned and used them before you left.
Coming Back Before 21 Months
If you come back before the 21 months are up, the Tariff says a Customs officer may still apply the concession where compassionate grounds exist, such as the illness, injury or death of you or a family member. Under the Tariff, a relationship breakdown or a job loss does not count.
Which Household Goods Qualify—
and When Can They Arrive?
# Which Goods Count
New Zealand Customs counts most of a home as household effects, from furniture and appliances to garage tools, trailers and pianos. New and unused items are not covered: you must declare them, and duty and GST apply.
Counts as household effects:
- Furniture, appliances, linen and bedding
- Electronics, computers, chinaware and ornaments
- Hand tools, garage equipment and professional tools
- Sporting equipment, pianos and other instruments
- Non-motorized caravans and trailers
Not covered:
- New and unused items
- Cars, scooters and motorbikes
- Boats and aircraft
- Commercial items
Customs says a wine collection can come in as household effects if you can prove you bought it over an extended period and it is consistent with domestic consumption or collection. Other alcohol may be considered.
When Your Goods May Arrive
To qualify for the household-effects concession, your residence document must be valid when your goods are imported. We recommend waiting until your visa or residence permit is in place before shipping. You don't need a permanent New Zealand address first.
Timing matters. New Zealand Customs has additional rules for goods arriving before you and for shipments arriving more than five years after you move. Check the applicable requirements with Customs before arranging your shipment.
What if You're Bringing a Car?
Cars and motorbikes aren't covered by New Zealand's household-effects concession. Separate Customs and vehicle-entry rules apply. Before making shipping arrangements, review the official New Zealand Customs vehicle guidance and NZTA requirements.
If the Concession Does Not Apply
#If no concession applies, New Zealand Customs will consider reducing your goods' value by how long you owned and used them overseas, from the day you took possession to your arrival.
| Time owned and used overseas | Value reduced by |
|---|---|
| Up to 3 months | 10% |
| 3 to 6 months | 20% |
| 6 to 12 months | 33% |
| 12 to 21 months | 50% |
Customs does not reduce the value of new goods.
What MPI Inspects, What to Clean,
and What Not to Pack
# If your goods travel in a sea container, the container will be inspected. MPI (Biosecurity New Zealand) states that inspection of sea containers is mandatory and is always carried out by MPI or an accredited person; in most cases, no inspection of cargo is necessary. MPI says inspections take place in MPI-approved warehouses called transitional facilities, and suggests checking with your agent where your goods will be inspected. According to MPI, a full container of your own household goods also has extra requirements, including a quarantine declaration.
Before packing, make sure your household goods are clean, dry, and free of soil, seeds, insects, and other biosecurity contamination. Pay particular attention to shoes, bicycles, camping gear, garden tools, and outdoor furniture. MPI may still inspect or treat items after they arrive in New Zealand. The full definition is in clause 5.1(1) of MPI's Import Health Standard for personal effects.
Do not pack (MPI):
- Household items: mothballs, and equipment used in beekeeping, such as a smoker or bee suit
- Seeds and grain: items containing whole grain and seeds not listed as "Basic" in the Plants Biosecurity Index
- Plant material: fresh flowers, fresh plants, bark, and coconut shells as fertilizer or growing media
- Plant fibers: unprocessed willow, cane, bamboo or rattan
Prohibited or permit only (New Zealand Customs' examples, page updated 9 July 2025):
- Radio devices: UHF CB radios from the USA, UK and Europe, some dog-tracking devices or collars, and phone or GPS jammers are prohibited
- Drug utensils: cannabis and methamphetamine utensils
- Weapons: firearms, ammunition, airguns, stun devices, pepper spray and automatic or butterfly knives need a permit
- Endangered species items: crocodile and alligator leather, American ginseng, ivory, furs and items of protected timber need a Department of Conservation permit
If you declare an item that is prohibited in New Zealand, MPI says you are likely to have four choices: the item is inspected and returned to you, re-shipped, or destroyed or treated at an approved facility. MPI notes that some items cannot be treated, that you arrange to collect treated items, and that fees and charges apply.
If your goods are shipped in wooden crates or containers, or wood has been used as flooring or walls, they must meet MPI's requirements for importing wood packaging.
Equipment used with animals, hunting, farming or fishing comes under a separate MPI standard for used equipment associated with animals or water.
Who Clears Your Shipment,
and What Documents Do You Need?
# You can clear the shipment yourself, use a customs broker, or work with a shipping company that offers customs clearance. New Zealand Customs requires the necessary documentation before it can process your shipment.
Here's how the clearance process works:
- Choose who clears.
- Send the documents:
- a detailed inventory listing every item in the shipment, which MPI requires, with any restricted items declared. MPI suggests numbering boxes and listing what each one holds, and says you can ask your removal company's staff to do this
- form NZCS 218, the unaccompanied personal baggage declaration
- a copy of your passport
- your residence document, only if you don't hold a New Zealand or Australian passport
- the shipping document: the air waybill, bill of lading, arrival notice, consignment note or NZ Post notice
- any permits
- supporting documents, such as receipts for new items
- MPI's personal effects supplementary declaration, which MPI calls voluntary and recommends if you're sending goods that may be a biosecurity risk; MPI says it could change your shipment's risk status and may lead to reduced clearance costs and faster clearance times
- Wait for the outcome: MPI staff screen the declarations and the contents list against any relevant import health standards to determine the risk status. Customs may examine the shipment, which may delay clearance, then emails the outcome, and you pay any amount due online before your shipment is released.
How to Answer NZCS 218
NZCS 218 asks how long you have been away and what gives you the right to live in New Zealand, what your goods are worth, and a set of yes-or-no questions on specific items. Its questions come in four groups:
- Time away and residence: how long you have been away from New Zealand, your right to live there, and any other adults the form covers.
- Your items: the estimated total value of all the items, the cost of transport, who packed them and the shipping reference.
- Declared items: yes or no on wildlife articles, medicines, objectionable articles, cannabis or methamphetamine utensils, weapons, tobacco or alcohol, cash of NZ$10,000 or more, vehicles, commercial goods, new or unused items and other people's items. The form asks you to code, date and price each item you declare. New or unused items are coded N.
- Q7 biosecurity questions: risk items such as wooden carvings, golf shoes, camping gear, barbecues and Christmas decorations, answered by box number. Customs states that MPI officers inspect declared risk items and may treat them at your cost.
Every Item Q7 Asks About
- Q7 biosecurity: food; animal products; plant products, including wooden carvings, cane, bamboo and basketware; equipment used with animals or plants; used vacuum cleaners, golf shoes and other studded footwear, hiking boots, water sports equipment, bicycles, camping gear and barbecues; any Christmas or Easter decorations and Pooja items; items in contact with animals or used or stored in rural areas.
You sign the form under the Customs and Excise Act 2018 and the Biosecurity Act 1993, and it states that failure to comply may constitute an offence under either Act.
Customs and MPI Import Charges
#For shipments valued over NZ$1,000, New Zealand Customs and MPI charge a combined import levy. The amount depends on whether your goods arrive by sea or air. Lower-value shipments may also be subject to separate levies. The amounts below exclude GST.
| Charge | By sea | By air |
|---|---|---|
| Goods levy (shipment over NZ$1,000, excluding GST, from 1 April 2026; Customs' and MPI's shares combined) | NZ$118.44 | NZ$51.81 |
Customs also charges NZ$133 an hour including GST, with a NZ$399 minimum, for services outside its standard arrangements, and MPI charges importers its own hourly rate for some biosecurity services, according to the same Customs page.
If MPI treats a declared item so it can return it to you, you pay for the treatment, according to Customs' prohibited and restricted items page.
Sources and Dates
#Every rule on this page comes from New Zealand Customs, including its Working Tariff, the Ministry for Primary Industries and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi. Each source is listed below with the date its page shows and the date it was checked. Before you ship, we recommend opening each page again in case it has been updated.
Moving to New Zealand
With RubyMoves
# Planning a move to New Zealand? Select Request a Quote and tell us where you're moving from, what you're shipping, and when you plan to move.
Ruby International replies within one business day. We then review your details and follow with a brief call to make sure we have all the information we need to give you a quote designed specifically for your move.