Customs-controlled Areas

• Examination areas: places where imported items are held until we inspect and clear them 
• Manufacturing areas: places that make excisable items
• Storage areas: places that store New Zealand-made wine, if it can’t be stored in a manufacturing area
• Export warehouse: places where you can transfer and store dutiable and excisable items before export, without paying duty on them
• Duty-free stores and shops – places where you can keep and store dutiable and excisable items before they’re sold to travellers, without paying duty on them
• Passengers by sea or air – places where we process passengers arriving in or leaving New Zealand, and where they get on or off the aircraft, ship, or boat they’re travelling on
• Sea/airports – places where we process any kind of craft arriving in or leaving New Zealand, and where their cargo is loaded or unloaded.

Full information is available at how to apply for an excise CCA licence.

Contact your local Customs office before making your application. The CCA licensing officer will assist you with the application process and answer any questions you may have.

The owner, occupier or person working in the area must:

• Make an application in TSW (PDF, 672 KB)
  • For Excise applications, refer to the Alcohol Excise Client Registration for a CCA Licence (PDF, 453 KB)
• complete Form C12 - Declaration in support of a Customs-controlled Area Licence application (PDF, 443 KB)
  
• complete NZCS 228 - Trade Single Window - supplementary form (DOC, 309 KB)
• include a diagram of the area’s layout
  • The diagram must be to a professional standard (for example, architectural plans used for local body or resource management applications).
• photo identification for each company director/partner/trustee
• a copy of your company’s certificate of incorporation
• a supporting letter from a person of responsibility in your company (this can be you), saying:
  • why you’re applying
  • what you’re going to make
  • any previous experience in making that product
  • what your business plan is.

We’ll discuss your situation with you. You may need to give us security. If so, this can be:

• a written undertaking – NZCS 608  (DOC, 247 KB)
• a cash deposit.

We may require additional information. We’ll ask you once you’ve submitted your application. For example, we may require declarations (on Form C12) from other people in your business including senior managers and persons who will work in the area, as well as the applicant. This will help us to confirm that they are 'fit and proper' to be associated with a CCA, as required under the Act - see section 59 and section 60.

Send your supporting documentation to your local Customs office.

When we get your application, we may need to:

• talk with you about making sure the licence and excise plan or procedure statement we issue has the appropriate terms and conditions
• inspect your premises to check their physical and structural security and safeguards
• ask for more information.

Customs-controlled Area licensed for the purpose specified in section 56 of the Act (General CCA) – $690.

Customs-controlled Area licensed for the purpose specified in section 56  of the Act (Export CCA):

• for a new licence – $2875
• for an existing licence, with:
  • gross revenue (from sale of duty-free items) over NZ$200,000  – $2875
  • gross revenue (from sale of duty-free items) under NZ$200,000 – $460.  

Customs-controlled Area licensed for the purpose specified in regulation 6(b) (Duty-free shop):

• for a new licence  – $2875
• for an existing licence, with:
  • gross revenue (from sale of duty-free items) over NZ$200,000  – $2875
  • gross revenue (from sale of duty-free items) under NZ$200,000 – $460.  

Customs-controlled Area licensed for the purpose specified in section 56 of the Act and for the purpose specified in regulation 6(b) (Duty-free shop):

• for a new licence  – $2875
• for an existing licence, with:
• gross revenue (from sale of duty-free items) over NZ$200,000  – $2875
• gross revenue (from sale of duty-free items) under NZ$200,000 – $460.

If you're operating a CCA for the purpose of:

• the temporary holding of imported goods for the purpose of examining those goods; or
• the disembarkation, embarkation, or processing of persons arriving in, or departing from, New Zealand; or
• the processing of craft arriving in, or departing from, New Zealand; or
• the loading or unloading of goods onto or from craft arriving in, or departing from, New Zealand.

You can download, customise, and print your own signs using these templates:

• CCA sign (DOCX, 3.7 MB)
• CCA sign with your logo (DOCX, 3.8 MB)

If you require a Customs logo and other brand elements for signwriting, contact us and let us know the file format you need. 

Customs has updated the way applications are made and processed for permission to unload goods from a craft (air/sea).

Anyone who unloads goods from a craft is required to apply for a permit to unload the goods under Section 78 of the Customs and Excise Act 2018.

The permit authorises the unloading of goods from a craft (air or sea) at a designated Customs Controlled Area (CCA), subject to Customs’ requirements to ensure compliance with security and legislative obligations.

Applications must be done on form NZCS 204 (PDF, 326 KB). This form clearly defines who is eligible to apply for permission to unload goods.

Either of the following pieces of evidence must be provided at the time of application:

• the applicant’s connection with any craft arriving at a CCA
• any agreement or authority to unload goods from that craft.

Applications and supporting documents can be submitted online at Submit a request.

Applications are processed on a case-by-case basis and within 20 working days. Urgent requests may be prioritised.