Comptroller's Introduction
The New Zealand Customs Service (Customs) plays a vital role in protecting and enhancing New Zealand’s economic prosperity, security, and unique way of life. We understand that border management has an effect on economic performance and the well-being of our community and we are committed to ensuring that New Zealand’s border management actively supports government priorities.
In order to achieve our vision of leadership and excellence in border management, we have to be ready for the future. We have to be able to respond quickly and effectively to unforeseen situations and circumstances, and we have to ensure the effective ongoing provision of services. Our recent organisational change programme has been focused on improving our ability to meet the challenges of the future and is resulting in increased strategic capacity and operational synergies, ensuring that we operate on a “whole of Customs, one Service” basis. The changes have enhanced our ability to use the information we already have to predict what may be coming next, as we develop the systems and other capabilities required to extract the most value from that information.
We are constantly reviewing our strategic direction in light of developments in our operating environment. Our vision, mission and values are the centrepiece of our strategic framework, and our outcomes have been revised to ensure that they accurately refl ect the difference that we make for New Zealand. The four existing outcomes have been refocused to clearly represent their scope and place in the broader government and community context. A draft multi-agency outcome provides a frame of reference for the whole of government policy aspect of border management, and a new outcome focusing on border management assurance underpins the entire framework and refl ects our focus on the effectiveness of Customs’ border management system. As the next step, we will be concentrating on further developing our performance measurement framework. We will use the information we already have and identify further information required to build an evidence-based understanding of our effectiveness and results against outcomes, and identify our priorities for the future.
Effective border management is essential to a modern state’s capability to safeguard its sovereignty, secure its prosperity and protect its citizens from threat. As there are a number of agencies involved in managing the New Zealand border we need to ensure they are properly “joined up” and that there are no gaps, or unplanned overlaps, in coverage. Initial work to develop a common understanding of the nature and role of border management in a modern economy will be pursued through further interagency dialogue about how synergy and synchronicity can be improved across the government agencies involved in border management.
In order to support a secure and prosperous New Zealand, we will continue to work in coordination with other agencies, and maintain our relationships with other customs administrations, international organisations and industry stakeholders. We will continue to deepen our understanding of our partners’ priorities and to ensure that we understand how our objectives and those of our partners in the public and private sectors can best be aligned. We will also continue to develop effective multi-agency solutions and strategic alliances with industry, whilst building a unique skill set.
The Customs Service’s place at the border provides us with an invaluable opportunity to support New Zealand’s economic transformation and help maintain safe communities and New Zealand’s unique identity. The strategic agenda set out in this Statement of Intent builds on the changes implemented over the past eighteen months to provide the foundation for our contribution to more future-focused and effective border management in New Zealand.
Martyn Dunne
Comptroller of Customs