[RoadRunner]

I just glanced at the arrival card declaration form for Auckland airport and had a bunch of questions!

It says you have to declare hiking boots (do Kiwis call them tramping boots?), coral, and water (among many other items).

Is that right? Do they confiscate these items or just examine them? The coral in particular worried me since I have several pieces of American Indian jewelry with both turquoise and coral and I wouldn't want to lose them!

Why are these items of concern?

Anyone else have other stories of odd things that had to be declared on arrival?

RoadRunner

[Rimbo]

I was also wondering about taking my hiking boots.
Of course for the Mt Taranaki trip! :P
I can understand that I should make sure there is not one spec of dirt on them (Foot and mouth etc). but now i'm wondering?

Any experiences anyone?

Did Hilary have this problem when training for the everest trip? :laugh

John

[heimatseeker]

We cleaned all our camping gear (incl. boots) *very* thoroughly before we came here. MAF took a look at everything, but let it through without a problem.

Don't know about corals, but we also brought a board game with a wooden board and wicker baskets for the stones, both materials you have to declare, and they definitely wanted to inspect that. It also went through ok.

It's my understanding that there are steep fines if they find anything that you failed to mention so it's a good idea to just ask about anything you are unsure about.

[Moorf]

We were asked at Auckland if we had anything in our luggage that might need to be declared and they did mention hiking boots... the guy simply asked me if they were cleaned and I said yes, they'd been thoroughly cleaned and they never bothered to look at them. Luggage went thru the machine and never opened.

[sarahw]

I had a pair of city boots in my bag last time we came through (they'd only been worn in the office in the UK once) and they stopped me and wanted to inspect those :eek

This time I was prepared - I declared all wooden items and I brought some shells from Florida with me and declared them.

If they catch you with anything that's on the list that you haven't declared its an instant fine. Also I believe that if you have dirty hiking boots they'll clean them & charge you for it. :(

[veronica]

They aren't worried about the hiking boots as long as they are clean. it wouldn't matter what the shoes were they would need to be clean. Its the mud thats the issue not the footwear.

[Beach Kiwi]

It says you have to declare hiking boots (do Kiwis call them tramping boots?), coral, and water (among many other items).

The coral is a concern due to CITES, and the boots because of any dirt or similar matter that may be on them.

Do they confiscate these items or just examine them?

They examine them, and, if necessary, confiscate them.

[acisman]

Hiking boots will always be examined as will camping gearing. We have been to NZ 3 times and each time we have had to show our boots. On one occasion we had to clear them ( I thought they were OK ), while on the other two they were just looked at. The bottoms of the boots must be spotless to get through without cleaning. They will also want to see any shoes with thick treads.

As far as coral is concerned you will have a problem here. On one visit the woman in front of us had a ring with corel inset. They would not let her bring in into the country. They offered to post it back to her home, or it could be left at the airport until she left NZ. She was very upset, but they would not budge. It is due to CITES as Beach Kiwi has pointed out.

Dave

[RoadRunner]

As far as coral is concerned you will have a problem here. On one visit the woman in front of us had a ring with corel inset. They would not let her bring in into the country. They offered to post it back to her home, or it could be left at the airport until she left NZ. She was very upset, but they would not budge. It is due to CITES as Beach Kiwi has pointed out.


The pieces I have are the closest we have to family heirlooms. They were purchased over 30 years ago and some pieces are really quite valuable. Assuming I am able to move to NZ permanently, what exactly does MAF expect me to do about them? Sell them?

If they inspect everything coming in via the airport, what about in the shipping container? Or sending via FedEx?

I don't want to give up the dream of living in NZ over family jewelry but the policy doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

:wah

[veronica]

I've picked up somewhere that some of the organic things coming into the country can be zapped in some form of microwave and that kills off any of the baddies that maybe lurking inside them. might be worth emailling MAF directly on this and getting their take.

[RoadRunner]

Thanks, Veronica. I'll try that!

(I understand the concern about dirt on hiking boots but it just seems a bit crazy to worry over a small piece of coral in an Indian jewelry that is 30+ years old!) :?

[shagen]

NZ appears stricter than Australia.

I thought both these countries share a similar policy on what can and cannot be brought into the country.

Shagen

[Beach Kiwi]

I don't want to give up the dream of living in NZ over family jewelry but the policy doesn't make a lot of sense to me.


The policy is more to do with preventing the trade in CITES 'products' than about stopping people from bringing in their 'personal' jewellery. Since there's no effective way of knowing which items are *now* illegal, and which were made before they became illegal, the only safe way to be sure is to ban all such items.

However, why not send pictures of your coral items to customs, and get them to give you a yay or nay before you actually get here? You never know, they may just let you bring them in. :nice1