The New Goods Management Levies: What Changed at the NZ Border in April 2026

On 1 April 2026, every import consignment entering New Zealand started paying its way at the border under a new system. The old Import Entry Transaction Fee (IETF) and the Biosecurity System Entry Levy — the pair of charges importers had grumbled about for years — were retired, replaced by a new family of consignment-based charges: the Goods Management Levies.

If you set up your landed-cost spreadsheet before April, it's now wrong. Here's what changed, what the new charges look like, and the one strategic shift every small importer should make in response.

What was replaced

Under the old system, a formal import entry triggered the IETF plus the biosecurity levy — effectively a bundled charge for Customs processing and biosecurity screening on entries. The new system rebuilds this around consignments: charges attach to shipments moving across the border, structured differently depending on value and mode.

Figure: The April 2026 change — the old IETF plus Biosecurity System Entry Levy replaced by the consignment-based Goods Management Levies across low-value, high-value and other categories.

The new levies, in plain English

Low-value goods levy — consignments at or below NZ$1,000. Charged per consignment: approximately NZ$2.21 for air and NZ$2.09 for sea, plus 15% GST. Postal items are charged on a weight basis instead. The detail that surprises people: this levy applies to all importers regardless of GST registration. Every parcel now carries a small border charge — which is precisely why the era of "split it into small parcels and slide under the radar" is over.

High-value goods levy — consignments over NZ$1,000. Charged per entry, with separate air and sea rates, and comprising both a Customs portion and an MPI portion, plus GST. For commercial importers this replaces the old IETF-plus-biosecurity-levy pairing on your import entries. Payment is due by the 20th of the month following the charge — a familiar rhythm for anyone already paying NZ suppliers on the 20th. Check customs.govt.nz for the current rates when you build your costings.

The supporting cast. The reform also introduced an empty container levy, a transhipment levy, a commercial vessel levy and a mail import levy. Most of these are absorbed into the charges your freight forwarder and carrier pass through, but expect to see them itemised on invoices where they apply.

What it means in dollars

Let's be honest about scale: for a genuine commercial shipment, the levies are a rounding error. On a NZ$15,000 consignment, a per-entry charge measured in tens of dollars barely moves your unit economics.

The change bites at the small end. If you're drop-shipping, testing products with a stream of small parcels, or running frequent small replenishment orders, a per-consignment charge — small as it is — now multiplies across every single shipment. Twenty parcels a month at roughly NZ$2 each plus GST is real money over a year, and it's pure cost: no input to your product, no offsetting saving.

The strategic response: consolidate

The new system's logic is simple — every consignment pays. So the winning response is equally simple: fewer, larger consignments.

• Combine multiple SKUs from one supplier into single shipments rather than ordering piecemeal.
• If you buy from several suppliers in the same region of China, ask your freight forwarder about consolidating them into one LCL consignment.
• Rethink high-frequency small replenishment. The 90-day order cycle we recommend anyway — with proper reorder points and buffer stock — naturally produces fewer, larger shipments.
• If you've been threshold-gaming under NZ$1,000, stop. You're now paying a levy per parcel and GST at checkout, with none of the input-credit clarity of proper commercial entries.

Consolidation was already good practice for freight economics — per-unit sea freight falls dramatically as volume rises. The levies simply add one more reason.

Housekeeping for existing importers

Three quick actions if you were importing before April 2026:

1. Update your landed-cost template. Delete the IETF line, add the Goods Management Levies with current rates from customs.govt.nz.
2. Check your broker's disbursements. Your customs broker passes these charges through — make sure their invoices reflect the new structure and you're not being billed against stale fee schedules.
3. Diarise the payment rhythm. High-value levy charges fall due on the 20th of the following month. Fold it into your creditors run.

Key takeaways

• From 1 April 2026, the IETF and Biosecurity System Entry Levy were replaced by consignment-based Goods Management Levies.
• Low-value consignments (≤NZ$1,000): roughly NZ$2.21 air / NZ$2.09 sea per consignment plus GST, applying to all importers; postal items are weight-based.
• High-value consignments (>NZ$1,000): per-entry levy with Customs and MPI portions plus GST, payable by the 20th of the following month.
• Every consignment now pays, so consolidate: fewer, larger shipments beat streams of small parcels.

Related: GST on Imports: The $1,000 Threshold Explained for 2026, NZ Customs Clearance Step by Step: TSW, Entries and Client Codes

NZ Import Duty and the China FTA: How a Certificate of Origin Saves You Money

One piece of paper, requested in one line of one email to your supplier, can take your duty bill to zero. Plenty of new importers don't send that line, and pay duty they never owed — money that came straight off their margin because nobody told them about the Certificate of Origin.

Duty is the most misunderstood of the border charges, mostly because people assume it's big. For a New Zealand importer buying from China in 2026, it's usually nothing at all. Here's the full picture.

Duty in NZ: mostly zero to begin with

New Zealand is one of the most open import markets in the world. Most goods enter duty-free regardless of where they come from. Where duty does apply, it's typically in the range of roughly 5–10% on selected categories — textiles and clothing, footwear, processed foods, some machinery, steel, and plastics.

Figure: Indicative NZ duty picture — most categories at 0%, with roughly 5–10% applying to selected categories such as clothing, footwear, processed foods, some machinery, steel and plastics.

Everything hangs off your product's tariff classification — the HS code. That code determines the duty rate, any restrictions, and your FTA eligibility. Look yours up in the NZ Customs Working Tariff Document or at tariff-finder.govt.nz before you fall in love with a product, not after the ship sails.

The NZ–China FTA: the rest goes to zero

For goods of Chinese origin, the New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement (NZCFTA) takes virtually everything to 0% duty — including those clothing, footwear and other categories that would otherwise attract tariffs.

But preferential rates aren't automatic. You claim them, and the claim needs evidence: a Certificate of Origin confirming the goods qualify as Chinese-origin under the agreement. Your supplier arranges it in China through the authorised issuing bodies. It's routine for them — every export factory has done it hundreds of times — but they generally won't do it unless asked.

So build it into your ordering process:

• Put "Certificate of Origin under the NZ–China FTA required" in your purchase order, not just in an email.
• Ask for a draft copy before shipment, and check the details match your commercial invoice — product description, quantities, consignee. Mismatched documents cause clearance friction.
• Make sure the original travels with your document set so your broker has it when lodging the entry.

The maths is simple. On a NZ$20,000 order of clothing that would otherwise carry duty of around 10%, that certificate is worth about NZ$2,000 — plus the GST that would have been charged on top of the duty, since GST is calculated on the duty-inclusive value. For the effort of one document, it's the best hourly rate in your business.

Not just China: NZ's wider FTA network

If you source beyond China, New Zealand's FTA network is broad: AANZFTA and CPTPP across Asia-Pacific, agreements with Korea, the UK and the EU, arrangements with Hong Kong and Taiwan (ANZTEC), and CER with Australia. The same logic applies everywhere — check the tariff, check the agreement, get the origin documentation. Tariff-finder.govt.nz lets you compare rates by country in seconds.

The exception that kills products: anti-dumping duty

There's one class of duty no FTA rescues you from. Anti-dumping duties are punitive rates imposed on specific goods from specific countries where below-cost "dumping" has been found to harm local industry. They exist in New Zealand on some items — MBIE administers the trade remedies regime, and its current list is public.

Our rule is blunt: if a product carries anti-dumping duty, walk away. The rate either kills your margin outright, or it signals a protected local competitor you don't want to fight. This is a first-week check in product research, before samples, before supplier negotiations.

Where duty sits in your landed cost

Keep duty in perspective within the full stack. Your landed cost is the supplier's price plus freight, insurance, any duty, border levies and 15% GST on the lot. For a typical Chinese-origin consignment with a Certificate of Origin, the duty line reads zero — which is exactly why forgetting the certificate hurts. You're not avoiding a cost everyone pays; you're failing to claim a saving everyone else claims.

One caution: origin claims are compliance documents. Only claim FTA preference for goods that genuinely qualify, and keep the certificates on file — Customs can query entries well after clearance, and the importer of record answers for them.

Key takeaways

• Most goods enter NZ duty-free; roughly 5–10% applies to selected categories like clothing, footwear, processed foods, some machinery, steel and plastics.
• The NZ–China FTA takes virtually all Chinese-origin goods to 0% — but only with a Certificate of Origin, which your supplier must arrange.
• Put the certificate requirement in your purchase order and verify it matches your invoice before shipment.
• Check tariff-finder.govt.nz for your HS code's rate, and avoid any product carrying anti-dumping duty.

Related: GST on Imports: The $1,000 Threshold Explained for 2026, NZ Customs Clearance Step by Step: TSW, Entries and Client Codes

GST on Imports: The $1,000 Threshold Explained for 2026

Fifteen percent. That's the number every NZ importer needs tattooed on their landed-cost spreadsheet, because GST applies to virtually everything you import — the only question is who collects it and when. And that question is answered by one figure: NZ$1,000.

Get this wrong and you either double-pay GST, under-budget your landed cost, or miss out on thousands of dollars of input credits you were entitled to claim. Here's how it works in 2026.

The threshold: NZ$1,000 splits the system in two

New Zealand runs a two-track system for GST on imports, split at a consignment value of NZ$1,000.

At or below NZ$1,000 — the low-value goods regime. Overseas suppliers and marketplaces that are registered for NZ GST charge you the 15% at checkout. This is why AliExpress, Amazon and other platforms add GST to your cart. The goods then generally flow through the border without Customs collecting GST again.

Above NZ$1,000 — the border regime. NZ Customs collects GST (plus any duty) when the shipment arrives, as part of the formal import entry process. This is the track every commercial importer bringing in real order quantities will live on.

Figure: How a shipment's value determines who collects the 15% GST — supplier at checkout below NZ$1,000, NZ Customs at the border above it.

How the 15% is actually calculated

Here's the part beginners get wrong: import GST is not 15% of the product price. It's 15% of the total of:

• the goods value, plus
• shipping, plus
• insurance, plus
• any duty payable.

So a NZ$10,000 order with NZ$1,500 freight, NZ$100 insurance and zero duty (thanks to the China FTA) attracts GST of 15% × NZ$11,600 = NZ$1,740. Budget on the full base, not the invoice price, or your landed-cost calculation will flatter every product you assess.

Registered importers get it back

If your business is GST-registered, import GST is not a cost — it's a timing issue. You pay it at the border, then claim it back as an input credit in your GST return. That NZ$1,740 above comes back to you; what it costs you is cash flow between paying Customs and filing the return.

Registration itself follows the standard rule: compulsory once your turnover passes NZ$60,000 in 12 months, voluntary below that. For most serious importers, registering early makes sense precisely because import GST becomes claimable — but registration also means charging 15% on your NZ sales and filing returns, so take advice on timing for your situation.

If you're not registered, the GST you pay at the border is simply part of your cost. Price accordingly.

The trap: don't pay twice, don't split shipments

Two threshold-related traps catch newcomers:

Double payment. If a GST-registered overseas supplier charges you 15% at checkout on a consignment that ends up valued over NZ$1,000, Customs can charge GST at the border too, and you're left chasing the supplier for a refund. For genuine commercial orders, tell your supplier you're a business importer, keep consignments cleanly above the threshold, and let the border process handle GST once.

Threshold gaming. Splitting one order into multiple sub-NZ$1,000 parcels to dodge border processing is a bad strategy. Customs can treat split consignments as one, and since April 2026 even low-value consignments attract a per-consignment border levy — so fragmenting shipments now actively costs you money on every parcel. Consolidation, not fragmentation, is the 2026 play.

What else lands at the border with GST

GST isn't the only line on your border bill. Shipments over NZ$1,000 need a formal import entry with your Customs client code, may attract duty (usually 0% on Chinese-origin goods with a Certificate of Origin), and since 1 April 2026 attract the new Goods Management Levies — consignment-based charges with Customs and MPI portions, themselves plus GST. None of these are large individually, but they belong in your landed-cost sheet. Check customs.govt.nz for the current levy rates before you calculate.

Practical setup for a new importer

1. Get your NZBN, then decide on GST registration (compulsory at NZ$60,000 turnover).
2. Get your Customs client code via the Trade Single Window before your first >NZ$1,000 shipment.
3. Build your landed-cost sheet with GST on (goods + shipping + insurance + duty) — and a note of whether you'll claim it back.
4. Keep every import entry and receipt filed. Your GST claims, and any future Customs query, depend on that paper trail.

Key takeaways

• NZ$1,000 is the dividing line: at or below, registered overseas suppliers charge 15% GST at checkout; above, NZ Customs collects at the border.
• Import GST is 15% of goods + shipping + insurance + duty — not just the product price.
• GST-registered importers claim import GST back; it's cash flow, not cost. Registration is compulsory at NZ$60,000 turnover.
• Don't split shipments to duck the threshold — per-consignment levies since April 2026 make consolidation the smarter move.

Related: The New Goods Management Levies: What Changed at the NZ Border in April 2026, Setting Up Right: NZBN, GST Registration and Your Customs Client Code

NZ Customs Clearance Step by Step: TSW, Entries and Client Codes

Somewhere in the Tasman right now is a container ship carrying goods for a first-time importer who has no Customs client code, no idea what an import entry is, and no clue their goods can't be released until both exist. Their container will sit on the wharf earning storage charges while they scramble. Ten minutes of reading — this post — avoids all of it.

Customs clearance sounds intimidating, but it's a sequence of defined steps. Here's the whole process for a typical commercial shipment from China, in order.

Step 1: Get your codes before the ship sails

For any shipment valued over NZ$1,000, NZ Customs requires two identifiers on the import entry:

• A Customs client code — this identifies you, the importer. You apply through the Trade Single Window (TSW) with your NZBN and details. It's free, but don't leave it until the vessel arrives.
• A supplier code — this identifies your overseas supplier. Your broker can arrange it when they have your supplier's details.

Sort both while your goods are still in production. It's a one-off setup; they're reused on every future shipment.

Step 2: Assemble the document set

Clearance runs on paperwork. Before the vessel arrives, you (or your broker) need:

• Commercial invoice — showing the true transaction value, supplier details, and ideally HS codes
• Packing list — cartons, quantities, weights, dimensions
• Bill of Lading (sea) or Air Waybill (air) — the document of title from your forwarder
• Certificate of Origin under the NZ–China FTA — this is what gets Chinese-origin goods in at 0% duty; without it you may pay duty unnecessarily
• Insurance certificate, if you've insured (you should have)

Ask your supplier for draft documents before the goods ship and check them line by line. A mistyped value or quantity is far easier to fix while the goods are still in Shenzhen.

Step 3: The import entry is lodged in TSW

TSW — the Trade Single Window — is the online system where import entries are lodged with NZ Customs and MPI together. Your customs broker classifies your goods against the Working Tariff Document, declares the value, applies the FTA preference, and lodges the entry electronically. Most compliant entries are processed quickly; many clear before the vessel even berths at Auckland or Tauranga.

Can you self-lodge? Technically yes, with your own TSW registration. Should you, on your first shipments? No. Tariff classification is a genuine skill, and errors surface as demands or audits months later. Pay the broker.

Step 4: Pay what's owed

For a typical shipment over NZ$1,000, expect:

• GST at 15%, calculated on the goods value plus shipping plus insurance plus any duty. If you're GST-registered, you claim this back in your GST return — it's cash flow, not a cost.
• Duty, if any applies. Most goods enter NZ duty-free, and with a China FTA Certificate of Origin virtually all Chinese-origin goods are at 0%.
• Border levies. Since 1 April 2026, the old entry fees have been replaced by the new Goods Management Levies, charged per consignment, with Customs and MPI portions plus GST. We cover the details in a dedicated post — for now, budget for a modest per-entry charge and check customs.govt.nz for current rates.

Your broker gives you one figure; goods aren't released until Customs is satisfied it's paid or accounted for.

Step 5: The biosecurity check runs in parallel

Because TSW feeds MPI as well as Customs, your entry is screened for biosecurity risk at the same time. Sea containers need quarantine declarations, and wood packaging must be ISPM 15 compliant. If MPI flags something — an untreated pallet, soil on a container, a risk product — your shipment gets directed for inspection or treatment at your expense. Clean paperwork and compliant packaging make this step invisible; problems here are the most common cause of clearance delays.

Step 6: Release and delivery

Once Customs releases the entry and MPI is satisfied, your forwarder arranges cartage from the port or freight depot to your address. For LCL shipments, add a few days for deconsolidation — your cartons must be unpacked from the shared container at a depot first.

What it looks like when it goes right

Done properly, clearance is boring: documents pre-checked, entry lodged before arrival, one payment, goods on a truck within days of berthing. Every horror story we hear traces back to the same causes — no client code, missing or sloppy documents, no Certificate of Origin, or non-compliant packaging. All four are preventable before the ship leaves China.

Key takeaways

• Shipments over NZ$1,000 need a Customs client code and supplier code — arrange both via TSW before the vessel sails.
• Check draft shipping documents while goods are still in China; errors are cheap to fix early.
• Expect 15% GST on goods + shipping + insurance + duty, usually 0% duty with a China FTA Certificate of Origin, plus the per-consignment Goods Management Levies.
• TSW screens for Customs and MPI together — compliant packaging and clean paperwork are what keep clearance fast.

Related: Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers: Who Does What in NZ, GST on Imports: The $1,000 Threshold Explained for 2026

Figure: The six clearance steps, in order — done properly, clearance is boring.

Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers: Who Does What in NZ

Here's a rule we'll happily repeat until everyone's sick of it: never DIY container logistics. The importers who try to book vessel space themselves, self-lodge complex customs entries and argue with wharf operators over demurrage almost always lose more in mistakes than they save in fees. The good news is that two professionals exist to do this for you — the freight forwarder and the customs broker — and for most first shipments they'll cost you a few hundred dollars combined.

The confusion comes because the two roles overlap, and in New Zealand many companies do both. Let's untangle them.

The freight forwarder: your goods' travel agent

A freight forwarder organises the physical movement of your cargo from the factory (or Chinese port) to your door in New Zealand. They don't own ships or planes — they buy space in bulk from carriers and resell it, which is why their rates beat anything you could get directly.

A good forwarder will:

• Quote and book your sea freight (FCL or LCL), air freight or sea/air combination
• Consolidate your LCL cargo with other shippers' goods into a shared container
• Issue or manage the Bill of Lading and shipment documents
• Arrange marine cargo insurance if you ask
• Handle the port-to-warehouse leg (called "on-forwarding" or cartage)
• Warn you about vessel cut-off dates — critical before Chinese New Year, when space sells out

As a benchmark, mid-2026 rates from China to Auckland run roughly US$2,250–2,750 for a 20-foot container and around US$38 per cubic metre for LCL, with transit of about three to four weeks. Rates are volatile — we've seen month-to-month swings near 20% this year — so treat any quote older than a few weeks as expired.

One tactic we always use: get a second quote from your supplier's own forwarder. Chinese factories ship constantly and their forwarding contacts are often sharp on price. Benchmark them against an NZ-based forwarder and pick whoever offers the better mix of price and communication — for your first few shipments, we'd weight communication heavily.

The customs broker: your border translator

A customs broker deals with the paperwork side of the border. When your shipment is worth more than NZ$1,000, it needs a formal import entry lodged with NZ Customs through the Trade Single Window (TSW), coded with the correct tariff classification, valued correctly, and matched to your Customs client code. Get the tariff classification wrong and you either overpay duty or invite a compliance headache later.

Your broker will:

• Classify your goods under the correct tariff item in the Working Tariff Document
• Lodge the import entry through TSW
• Calculate GST, any duty, and the border levies, and tell you exactly what to pay
• Apply your NZ–China FTA Certificate of Origin so you're not paying duty you don't owe
• Liaise with MPI if your goods or packaging get flagged for biosecurity

Brokerage on a standard entry typically costs somewhere in the low hundreds of dollars. Against the cost of a misclassified entry or a container sitting on the wharf accruing storage charges, it's the cheapest insurance in importing.

Who do you actually hire?

In practice, most NZ importers hire one company. Nearly every established New Zealand forwarder has in-house brokerage, and most brokers have forwarding partners. For your first shipments, a single freight forwarder offering door-to-door service with customs clearance included is the simplest path: one contact, one invoice, one throat to choke if something goes sideways.

When you brief them, come prepared. Your forwarder needs the container volume (your supplier calculates this), the order quantity in cartons and units, the number of SKUs, average carton dimensions and weights, any labelling requirements, and the pickup and delivery addresses. The more complete your brief, the more accurate the quote — and the fewer surprise "additional charges" lines on the final invoice.

What they won't do for you

Neither professional replaces your own homework. A broker lodges the entry, but you are the importer of record — responsible for the accuracy of declared values, for product compliance, and for anything MPI finds crawling out of your pallets. A forwarder books the ship, but won't remind you that you never agreed a shipment date penalty with your supplier. Keep ownership of the decisions; delegate the execution.

And one exception to the "always use professionals" rule: couriered samples and small parcels. DHL, FedEx and the like include customs brokerage in their door-to-door service, so small shipments under the courier model need no separate broker.

Key takeaways

• Forwarders move goods; brokers clear them through NZ Customs — most NZ firms do both, and one door-to-door provider is ideal for beginners.
• Always benchmark your forwarder's quote against your supplier's own forwarder.
• Shipments over NZ$1,000 need a formal entry via TSW — let a broker classify and lodge it.
• You remain the importer of record: professionals execute, but the responsibility stays yours.

Related: NZ Customs Clearance Step by Step: TSW, Entries and Client Codes, Sea, Air or Courier? Choosing the Right Freight to NZ in 2026

Figure: Who does what between forwarder and broker — most NZ firms do both.