New Customs Service Import Transaction Fee collected from Sunday December 1.

Importers are reminded that an Import Transaction Fee will be collected by the New Zealand Customs Service from Sunday, December 1 2002.

The fee of $18 (GST inclusive) will be payable on: every commercial import entry and import declaration for goods with a duty and/or GST liability of $50 or more; and every private import declaration for goods with a value of $1000 or more and with a duty and/or GST liability of $50 or more.

The fee is to cover the cost of ongoing improvements to Customs’ clearance service aimed at ensuring continued fast and efficient clearance of imported goods.

Minister of Customs Rick Barker says the money collected through the user-pays fee will be retained by Customs. The New Zealand fee is also modest in comparison to those imposed by the Australian and United States Customs Service.

Australia’s Customs Service charges a fee for import transactions ranging from NZ$30 to NZ$57, while in the US customs import processing fees range from NZ$50 to NZ$972.00 per transaction. “The taxpayer has until now paid the total cost of providing Customs’ efficient and business-friendly clearance services, which have provided importers with significant gains over the past 10 years.

“Internet trading, virtual warehousing and just-in-time stock management are becoming business realities. Cargo shipments are now cleared in an average of 12 minutes – often, in the case of low risk shipments, before the goods have even arrived on the wharf.

“With increasing import volumes and greater concern for security, it is only reasonable to ask those who benefit from Customs’ efficiency to make a contribution, I stress a contribution,” Mr Barker says.

New Zealand’s 30,000 importers bring goods worth around $32 billion across the country’s borders each year. Customs expects to collect about $15 million per annum from the Import Transaction Fee - less than 0.05 percent of the value of goods imported.

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