Customs and Excise Act 2018

Administrative provisions - General provisions about information (including joint border management)

302: Joint border management

You could also call this:

"Sharing information to keep New Zealand's borders safe"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

When you are coming into New Zealand, you need to give some information to Customs. They can collect and store this information in a system called the Joint Border Management System. This system is used by Customs and the Ministry to help keep New Zealand's borders safe.

You might need to give information about the things you are bringing with you, like food or gifts. You might also need to give information about yourself, like your name and address. This information is used to help keep you and other people in New Zealand safe.

If you are asked to give this information to Customs, you can also give it to the Ministry or another agency that is helping to manage the border. They will use this information to help keep New Zealand's borders safe, and to make sure that everyone is following the rules. Some of these rules are in the Biosecurity Act 1993, and others are in the Privacy Act 2020.

The Ministry is a group of people who help to keep New Zealand safe from things like pests and diseases. They work with Customs to make sure that everything coming into New Zealand is safe. They use information from the Joint Border Management System to help them do their job, and to make sure that everyone is following the rules. Some of these rules are in other laws, like the Food Act 2014 and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996.

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This page was last updated on 1 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039652.

Topics:

Immigration and citizenship > Border controlEnvironment and resources > ConservationHealth and wellbeing > Public health

301: Customs’ general powers for using information, or

"Customs can use the information they get for their job and to follow the law."

303: Relationship between this Act and other law relating to information use and disclosure, or

"This law doesn't override other laws that let you share information, so you can still share it if another law says you can."

Part 5Administrative provisions
General provisions about information (including joint border management)

302Joint border management

Customs may—
collect any border information; and
store any border information in a Joint Border Management System.

Information privacy principles 2 and 3 in section 22 of the Privacy Act 2020 do not restrict the collection or storage of personal information under subsection (1).
A person who is required to provide any border information to Customs may comply with that requirement by providing the border information to the Ministry, or an agency other than Customs, acting under section 41G of the Biosecurity Act 1993.
In this section,—
border information—
1. means information—
  1. that is required to be provided to Customs or the Ministry under this Act or Part 3 of the Biosecurity Act 1993 for a border protection purpose; or
  2. that is otherwise lawfully provided or collected for a border protection purpose; and
2. includes (without limitation) information about any of the following:
  1. goods, persons, or craft:
  2. import or export transactions:
  3. importers or exporters; and
3. also includes information that is derived from, or related to, any information referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) or any analysis of information referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b)
border protection purpose means any lawful purpose relating to, or connected with, the carrying out of any of the following:
1. a function of Customs under this Act:
2. a Ministry-related border management function
Joint Border Management System or JBMS means any system operated for the collection, storage, and use of border information by Customs and the Ministry
Ministry—
1. means the Ministry as that term is defined in section 2(1) of the Biosecurity Act 1993; and
2. includes—
  1. the Director-General of Biosecurity; and
  2. an inspector appointed under section 103 of the Biosecurity Act 1993
Ministry-related border management function means any of the following:
1. any function of the Ministry under Part 3 of the Biosecurity Act 1993:
2. any other function of the Ministry under the Biosecurity Act 1993 that is necessary—
  1. to achieve the purpose of Part 3 of that Act; or
  2. for the administration of Part 3 of that Act:
3. any function of the Ministry under any of the following Acts in relation to the effective management of risks associated with the movement of goods, persons, or craft into or out of New Zealand:
  1. the Food Act 2014:
  2. the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996:
  3. the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997:
  4. the Animal Products Act 1999:
  5. the Wine Act 2003:
  6. any other Act specified by Order in Council made under section 165A of the Biosecurity Act 1993.

Compare

1996 No 27 ss 131A, 282D, 282J, 282K

Notes

Section 302(2): amended, on 1 December 2020, by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).