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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Final and miscellaneous provisions - Offences - Other offences

387: Offences in relation to use of goods

You could also call this:

"Breaking the rules about using goods you bring into New Zealand can get you in trouble"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

If you bring goods into New Zealand and they are exempt from duty or have a lower duty rate, you must use them for the purpose you said you would. You can find the rules for this in the Tariff Act 1988. You must also follow any conditions set by the responsible Minister or the chief executive. If you do not follow these rules, you can get in trouble.

If you knowingly use the goods for a different purpose or do not follow the conditions, you are committing an offence. You can be fined if you are found guilty of this offence. The fine can be up to three times the amount of duty you would have paid if you had not gotten the exemption or lower rate, or $5,000, whichever is greater.

There are special rules for beer and wine that you make yourself and bring into New Zealand. In this case, the goods are considered to be for your personal use, not for selling to others. The responsible Minister is the person in charge of making sure the rules are followed, and this can be either the Minister or the Minister responsible for the Tariff Act 1988.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039855.

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Part 6Final and miscellaneous provisions
Offences: Other offences

387Offences in relation to use of goods

  1. This section applies if—

  2. this Act, the Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table, or the Tariff Act 1988 provides that goods are exempt from duty, or liable to a lower rate of duty, if they are entered—
    1. for a particular purpose; or
      1. subject to any condition imposed by the responsible Minister or the chief executive; and
      2. the goods are so entered.

        1. A person commits an offence if the person knowingly—

        2. uses or deals with those goods for a purpose other than that for which they are entered; or
          1. fails to comply with a condition imposed by the responsible Minister or the chief executive in respect of the goods so entered.

            1. A person who commits an offence under this section is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding the greater of the following:

            2. an amount equal to 3 times the amount of the duty that would have been payable if the goods had been entered otherwise than under the provision under which they were entered:
              1. $5,000.

                1. For the purposes of this section, beer that is entered as exempt from excise duty under clause 6(1) of Schedule 3, or wine that is entered as exempt from excise duty under clause 6(2) of that schedule, is to be regarded as having been entered for the purpose of the personal use of the individual who manufactured the beer or the wine and not for sale to any other person.

                2. In this section, responsible Minister means, as the case requires,—

                3. the Minister; or
                  1. the Minister who, with the authority of the Prime Minister, is responsible for the administration of the Tariff Act 1988.

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