Fact Sheet 26 - Customs Requirements for Processing Cruise Vessels
This fact sheet details the documentation to be produced which satisfies the statutory requirements relating to the movement of craft, goods and people, under the Customs and Excise Act 1996. This documentation enables the New Zealand Customs Service to manage the risks posed by craft, people and goods arriving in New Zealand.
What documentation is required for vessels arriving into New Zealand?What are the clearance processing procedures?What permits do disembarking passengers or crew require?What are the requirements for ships stores?What are the requirements for cash reporting?What are the requirements for personal goods?Further information- What documentation is required for vessels arriving into New Zealand?
- All cruise vessels arriving into New Zealand from an overseas port are required to present one copy of Form C1 — Inward Report (Ships) to Customs, which must contain the following information:
- Part A — Arrival details of craft.
- Part B — Supporting documentation (see below) relating to goods and persons on board.
- Part C — Inward crew list (disembarking and transit).
- Part D — Ships stores list.
The owner or person in charge of the craft must sign the inward report. It may not be signed by any other person. Where documentation is generated electronically, it must contain the same information that is required on the appropriate prescribed Customs form.
Supporting documentation
The following documentation should be attached to the inward report if applicable, otherwise attach a nil return:
- Form 6 — Customs Individual Crew Declaration (Sea) (New Zealand Domiciled Crew). This declaration is prescribed by the Customs and Excise Regulations 1996, and must be completed by each New Zealand domiciled member of the crew (Domicile is determined as the place of permanent residence.). All goods must be declared whether they are to be landed or not. The form is required in duplicate.
- Form 7 — Customs Individual Crew Declaration (Sea) (Non-New Zealand Domiciled Crew). This declaration is prescribed by the Customs and Excise Regulations 1996, and must be completed by the master, officers, and every member of the crew. All goods to be landed in New Zealand must be declared. One copy only of the form is required.
- Cargo manifest — if the craft is carrying commercial cargo.
- Full passenger list.
- Disembarking passenger list — passengers departing the craft and not rejoining.
- Transit passenger list — passengers who have arrived and will depart on the same craft.
- Controlled drugs and firearms list.
- New Zealand Passenger Arrival Cards, which must be completed by all disembarking passengers. Translated versions will be available during processing.
- Overlanders list — passengers who depart the craft for an overnight stay and then return to the craft.
- Last port clearance.
- Crew list (disembarking and transit).
- Stores list.
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- What are the clearance processing procedures?
- Shipping agent responsibilities — air travel
The shipping agent is to provide a letter to both Customs and Ministry of Agriculure and Forestry/Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) officers, who are involved in en route processing, to show that they are joining a passenger vessel for outward travel from the overseas port to New Zealand. (Without this letter the airline may not carry them.) The shipping agent must forward air tickets, including prepaid departure tax, to the officers, at their port, prior to departure.
Documentation for passengers and crew
Before the clearance process starts, Customs officers will liaise with the Purser to obtain the following:
- Disembarking passenger and crew lists.
- Transit passenger and crew lists.
- All passenger and crew passports for those passengers and crew finally disembarking in New Zealand.
- Evidence of outward ticketing for disembarking passengers and crew from non-visa abolition countries, who intend to depart New Zealand by air after the cruise ship has departed from New Zealand.
- A completed New Zealand Passenger Arrival Card for all disembarking passengers and crew.
- A list of visitors to the vessel while in New Zealand (if available).
Advanced Passenger Information
The New Zealand Customs Service requires that all cruise vessels provide Advanced Passenger Information of all persons on board. Vessels are required to provide this information not less than 48 hours prior to the vessel arriving in New Zealand territorial waters.
The agreed format is a CSV file produced from a New Zealand Customs Service API template. Please contact your New Zealand Shipping Agency Representative for further details and a copy of the file template or visit the Visiting Craft section on the New Zealand Customs website at www.customs.govt.nz. All API file attachments should be sent to the New Zealand Customs Service via email at apicustodian@customs.govt.nz
Cruise Vessel Coordination
Contact the Cruise Vessel Coordinators on:
Telephone: +64-9-359 6620
Mobile: +64-29-359 6622
Facsimile: +64-9-359 6692
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- What permits do disembarking passengers or crew require?
- Disembarking passengers or crew require a permit if:
- They intend to depart by air after the vessel has left New Zealand, or
- The vessel is in New Zealand longer than 28 days.
Those travelling on visa abolition passports will be issued with a permit in accordance with their citizenship, from the date the vessel enters New Zealand at the first Customs place.
Those travelling on non-visa abolition passports will be issued with a permit in accordance with a valid visa if one is already obtained, or in accordance with their outward travel arrangements. The Customs officer will need to sight evidence of outward ticketing to determine the length of permit.
Where there is no evidence of outward travel, the passenger or crew member will be referred to Immigration New Zealand for a decision on permit length, on arrival, and will not be permitted to leave the craft until Immigration New Zealand requirements are satisfied.back to top
- What are the requirements for ships stores?
- Ships stores are any goods (including tobacco and alcohol) for use or consumption on board a craft by passengers or crew, or for the service of a craft. (Duty free stores are stores, which may under certain conditions, be shipped from New Zealand free of Customs duty.)
Ships stores, for consumption on board, are permitted to be issued from the ship’s bond during the stay of a cruise vessel in New Zealand. This must be in line with the quantities approved by Customs, according to the number of passengers and crew, and the length of the craft’s stay in New Zealand.
The following quantities may be approved, per person, as ships stores:
- Beer — 3 x cans or bottles not exceeding 375mls per day and
- Wine — 1 x 750ml bottle per day and
- Spirits or liqueurs — 3 x 1125ml bottle per 10 days and
- Cigarettes — 20 cigarettes per day and
- Tobacco — 250 grams per 10 days and
- Cigars — 5 (regardless of weight) per 10 days.
To avoid the need for additional stores requisitions while the vessel is in New Zealand, overall quantities of these stores can be issued at one time for a minimum 10 day period, and will normally cover the period that the craft is in New Zealand.
This entitlement is subject to the condition that no passengers or cargo are embarked at one port in New Zealand for disembarkation at another port in New Zealand.
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- What are the requirements for cash reporting?
- Every person who arrives in New Zealand and has in their possession cash in excess of $10,000 in any denomination is required to complete a Border Cash Report (Form NZCS 337). Declared cash means coin or paper money, of New Zealand or of a foreign currency, but does not include travellers cheques or other monetary instruments.
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- What are the requirements for personal goods?
- All passengers disembarking (i.e., not rejoining the craft) in New Zealand are required to complete a New Zealand Passenger Arrival Card. Goods purchased or acquired overseas that will remain in New Zealand after the person departs and exceed $700 in total value are required to be declared in the section provided. The Customs booklet Advice to Travellers (www.customs.govt.nz/travellers/default.htm) fully explains the various concessions available to travellers.
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- Further information
- More detailed information regarding en-route and alongside processing is available on Fact Sheet 26A.
For further information, contact your nearest office of the New Zealand Customs Service, visit the Customs website www.customs.govt.nz, or Call Customs on 0800-428 786 (0800 4 CUSTOMS).back to top