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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft - Arrival and departure of goods, persons, and craft - Arrival of craft in New Zealand

26: Requirement to answer questions and produce documents

You could also call this:

"Answering Customs officers' questions and showing documents when arriving or leaving New Zealand"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

When you are on a craft that has arrived in or is departing from New Zealand, you might be asked questions by a Customs officer. You could also be asked to show them documents related to the craft, its journey, or the goods or people on it. The Customs officer can ask you these questions if you are the owner, in charge, a crew member, or a passenger on the craft.

If the craft is in New Zealand or a nearby area and is carrying international cargo, crew, or passengers, you might be asked questions too. A Customs officer can also ask you questions if they think the craft has been or will be involved in something against the law, like importing or exporting prohibited goods.

The Customs officer's power to ask questions in a nearby area is limited by international law, specifically article 33 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. You can find more information about this by comparing it to s 22(1), (2).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039218.

Topics:
Transport and travel > BoatingCrime and justice > Police and safetyGovernment and voting > Border control
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"Breaking the rules about reporting your boat's arrival in New Zealand can lead to big fines"

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27: Offences in relation to failure to answer questions or produce documents, or

"Telling lies or not answering Customs questions can get you in trouble"

Part 3Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft
Arrival and departure of goods, persons, and craft: Arrival of craft in New Zealand

26Requirement to answer questions and produce documents

  1. This section applies to the following:

  2. a craft that has arrived in New Zealand:
    1. a craft that is departing from New Zealand:
      1. a craft that is within New Zealand or the contiguous zone and that is transporting international cargo or international crew or any international passenger, whether or not the craft is also transporting domestic cargo or any other persons:
        1. a craft that is within New Zealand or the contiguous zone and that a Customs officer has reasonable cause to suspect has been, or is about to be, involved in—
          1. the commission of an offence under this Act; or
            1. the importation or exportation of any dutiable, uncustomed, prohibited, or forfeited goods.

            2. A Customs officer may question any person referred to in subsection (4) about any of the matters referred to in subsection (5), and the person must answer the Customs officer’s questions.

            3. A Customs officer may request a person referred to in subsection (4) to produce to the officer any document relating to any of the matters referred to in subsection (5) that is in the person’s possession or under the person’s control.

            4. The persons are as follows:

            5. the owner of the craft:
              1. the person in charge of the craft:
                1. a member of the crew of the craft:
                  1. a passenger on the craft.

                    1. The matters are as follows:

                    2. the craft:
                      1. the craft’s journey:
                        1. any goods or persons that are on, or have been on, the craft.

                          1. A power under this section that may be exercised in the contiguous zone as a result of subsection (1)(c) or (d) may be exercised in the contiguous zone only in accordance with article 33 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

                          2. In this section,—

                            international crew means the crew, or any member of the crew, of a craft that is on a journey that—

                            1. began outside New Zealand; or
                              1. began in New Zealand and is to continue outside New Zealand

                                international passenger means a person who has an entitlement to travel on a craft within New Zealand where that travel is part of an international journey that—

                                1. began outside New Zealand; or
                                  1. began in New Zealand and is to continue outside New Zealand.

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