Send items overseas

If you’re sending items out of New Zealand (in other words, the goods are leaving the country, and you are not going with them), you must have a Customs export clearance for anything you’re exporting by:

• fast freight (for example, a courier)
• air
• sea.

If you’re sending something by post, you need a Customs export clearance if the package is one of the following:

• Valued over NZ$1000. If you're planning on bringing items into New Zealand (importing) or sending items overseas (exporting) that are over NZ$1000, you need to apply for a Customs Number.
• Exported for commercial purposes. There are different rules for sending commercial items out of New Zealand.

You must have a Customs export clearance for any non-commercial cargo you’re exporting from New Zealand, including:

• personal/household effects
• unaccompanied baggage gifts
• pets.

There are two types of export clearance:

• Electronic Cargo Information report (ECI), which is only done by brokers as part of their service in shipping your items
• export entry.
  

You must get a delivery order and pay export clearance charges before you can export your items.

If you’re using a courier, they will often complete the export clearance for you. You can also use a broker or freight forwarder. If you're a private (ie non-commercial) exporter, we can help you complete your export entry.

Note: you may need to give us 48 hours' notice if you need our help.

Customs export entry

Use an export entry if your items are:

• worth more than NZ$1,000 and not:
  • gifts for people who live outside New Zealand
  • luggage and personal/household effects
  • tools of trade.

Excess baggage

You don’t need an export clearance if:

• your baggage weighs more than the free allowance
• you pay excess baggage charges when you check in.

You must make sure that any pet, animal or animal product you send out of New Zealand meets the requirements of the country you’re sending them to.

New Zealand is classified as "rabies-free". To export your pet, you’ll need from MPI:

• an export certificate
• for most live animals, an animal welfare export certificate.

You should contact a registered pet exporter if you’re sending a pet out of New Zealand.

If you’re not using a pet exporter, you’ll need an MPI Official Veterinarian to sign your export certificate and AWEC before you can export your pet.

Sending your dog or cat to Australia

Dogs and cats from New Zealand don’t need an import permit for Australia.

You still need an export certificate. You can get these from a MPI-approved registered vet.

Sending your pets to other countries

There are different requirements if your pet:

• isn’t a dog or cat, and
• isn’t going to Australia.

You can send many food items out of New Zealand, but not all. To find out what items – including food – you can send to other countries, ask your destination country's Embassy or High Commission (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade).

• Māori artefacts over 50 years old
• bones, feathers, or other parts of the moa or other extinct NZ species
• goods over 50 years old which have national, scientific, or artistic importance such as:
  • books, letters and other documents
  • parts of ships and aircraft
  • photographs and films
  • stamps and coins
  • traction engines
  • veteran and vintage motor vehicles
  • works of art
• pounamu (greenstone). This prohibition does not apply to:
  • articles made from pounamu (for example, jewellery, pendants or sculpture containing pounamu)
  • consignments that are being exported by a single exporter and in which the total weight of pounamu does not exceed 5 kg.

The Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989 allows NZ to fulfil its international obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES is designed to regulate trade in endangered, threatened, or exploited species. It covers both the live plants and animals themselves, and products made from them such as those listed below, which can only be imported into NZ with a special permit. There are also corresponding restrictions on similar goods exported from NZ.

Note that these are not complete or comprehensive lists – if you have any doubts about whether your item requires a permit, contact the Department of Conservation at cites@doc.govt.nz for more information.

Goods that require both import and export permits:

• medicines that contain bear, tiger, turtle, musk, Aucklandia root, etc
• elephant ivory – jewellery, carvings, tusks, etc
• any whale/cetacean items, such as whalebone carvings, dolphin teeth, etc
• big cat skins or coats
• any item made from turtle meat or marine turtle shell
• many big game hunting trophies
• some orchids and cycads.

Goods that require an export permit:

• medicines that contain orchids, seahorse, ginseng, etc
• elephant ivory older than 1975, such as bagpipes and antique items
• giant clam meat and shells
• many types of coral – even those you pick up on the beach
• plants such as cacti, some orchids, cyclamens, and carnivorous plants
• many reptile items, such as boa/python skins, cobra wine, etc
• shark teeth.

There are always exceptions. If you are in any doubt, please check with the Department of Conservation before importing or exporting any endangered species item. Find more information on CITES on the Department of Conservation's website.