NZ Customs 175th Souvenir Publication - AW - Flip PDF

175
175 YEARS
PROTECTING
OUR BORDER
NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE
175TH
COMMEMORATIVE
PUBLICATION
NEW ZEALAND
CUSTOMS SERVICE
Lets take a look at our journey so far
175 YEARS
PROTECTING
OUR BORDER
175th anniversary celebration
CONTENTS
P6
A MESSAGE FROM
THE MINISTER
P16
ALCOHOL
& TOBACCO
P8
COMPTROLLERS
THROUGH THE YEARS
P20
P24
INVESTIGATIONS
& INTELLIGENCE
Thank you to all serving Customs staff who have contributed their wisdom and experience to content, in particular to Senior Customs
Officer Trevor Gleave for your patience and attention to detail. Special thanks to retired officer Ray Grant for your assistance.
Every attempt has been taken to verify statements, data and information however there may be some differences of opinion, and we
hope the errors are few. Everything contained within this magazine is published in good faith.
All of the photographs within this work not individually attributed as the copyright property of a particular source are the sole copyright
property of the New Zealand Customs Service.
P10
WELCOME FROM
OUR COMPTROLLER
CUSTOMS
AT SEA
P12
TRADE
P28
CUSTOMS
AT PLAY
My first role of warehouse keeper was completely old school, hand

writing in a huge bound book of excise entries, going in and out of
licensed premises. Current longest serving female officer Chief Customs Officer Jan Falconer.
P32
CANINE
CUSTOMS
P46
TOOLS OF THE TRADE THROUGH THE YEARS
P36
OUR FEMALE
FIRSTS
P50
OUR FRIENDS
IN THE PACIFIC
P40
P42
TANGATA WHENUA
AND NZ CUSTOMS
WEARING CUSTOMS
COLOURS WITH PRIDE
P52
P56
CUSTOMHOUSES
PASSENGER
EXPERIENCE
Acknowledgment:
Thank you to David McGill for authorisation to use information and photography
from David McGill (1991) The Guardians At The Gate: The History of the New
Zealand Customs Department, Silver Owl Press.
Dive Log June/July 1992. Photography by Ross Land
Hawkes Bay Today
A MESSAGE
FROM THE
MINISTER
Celebrating 175 years of the New Zealand Customs Service gives us the
opportunity to celebrate Customs rich history, and share in colourful
tales spanning our countrys economic, political, and social change.
Way back in 1840 New Zealands first civil servants began collecting Customs
revenue from rum merchants, whalers, sailors, and other colourful colonialists
on the shores of Kororreka (Russell). Celebrating 175 years of the New Zealand
Customs Service gives us the opportunity to celebrate Customs rich history,
and share in colourful tales spanning our countrys economic, political, and
social change.
In these pages we celebrate the thousands of Customs men and women
whove contributed to New Zealands public service, the rule of law, economic
development, and to our cultural identity. I am extremely proud to be the
Minister of New Zealands oldest government department. I am extremely
proud to be part of this important celebration of Customs role in shaping New
Zealand, and celebrating how far we have come.
the food in our fridge, and what was inside our wardrobes. As the world has
changed, the NZ Customs Service evolved dramatically in recent decades to
keep up with rapid change in trade, travel and technology. Todays services
to communities, passengers, major enterprises, and mum and dad importers
need to be quick, digital, and easy to understand. Customs ability to be agile,
and respond to change is just one hallmark of the organisations impressive
character.
There are many challenges in todays operating environment, resource
pressures, new legislation, e-commerce, and increasing risks to border security
are just a few. We can have every confidence that the people of the New Zealand
Customs Service will continue to build on their magnificent legacy of service to
New Zealand.
I often say that Customs is 175 years young. As well as being New Zealands
oldest government department, Customs uses cutting-edge technology and
innovation to keep our border safe.
For todays everyday New Zealanders, much of Customs work may go unseen
and unmentioned. The relevance of Customs control on day-to-day lives is
far less today compared to 20th century restrictions on the vehicles we drove,
Hon Nicky Wagner

Minister of Customs
WELCOME
FROM OUR
COMPTROLLER
Our journey has been a long one, and we are the
custodians of a magnificent legacy.
We may be this countrys oldest government
department, but we lead the way on many
transformational programmes to provide digital
services, and offer 21st century border management
to our customers here and across the globe.
I feel a great sense of privilege and purpose to be the
Comptroller of the New Zealand Customs Service, Te
Mana rai O Aotearoa. I take immense pride in the
dedication our people serve with. We are fortunate to
employ around 1,200 committed professionals, some
who have given their entire working lives to serving
Customs. Every Customs person, both serving and
retired, can be very proud of who you are, what you
do, and why you do it. We share a belief in Customs
values, and in our primary purpose of protecting
and promoting New Zealand through world-class
border management.
This magazine offers just a brief insight into decades

of Customs progress, and our role in New Zealands
social wellbeing and economic development. Inside
we look at how far weve come in many of our major
focus areas, including revenue, trade, the passenger
experience, investigations and intelligence. We
celebrate aspects of our diverse Customs family,
the pride of wearing our Customs colours, and
the buildings that weve worked from.
Customs services affect the lives of many
New Zealanders and citizens across the globe,
and I hope you enjoy this celebration of our
impressive history.
We share a belief
in Customs values,
and in our primary
purpose of protecting
and promoting New
Zealand through
world-class border
management.
Carolyn Tremain
Comptroller of Customs
10
G. Cooper
1841 - 1845
S. Carkeek
1865 - 1866
W. Seed
1866 - 1867
H.S. McKellar
1888 - 1892
E.D. Good
1935 - 1946
D.G Sawers
1946 - 1954
J.P.D. Johnsen
1954 - 1957
E.S. Gale
1957 - 1959
M.J. Belgrave
1985 - 1987
M.W. Taylor
1987 - 1991
G.W. Ludlow
1992 - 1999
R.C. Dare
2000 - 2004
W.T. Glasgow
1887 - 1888 & 1892 - 1909
R. Carter
1909 -1910
W.B. Montgomery
1910 - 1923
E.D. Good
1935 - 1946
J.F. Cummings
1959 - 1967
V.A. Thomas
1967 - 1971
J.A. Kean
1971 - 1981
P.J. McKone
1981 - 1985
NEW ZEALAND
CUSTOMS SERVICE
COMPTROLLERS
THROUGH THE YEARS
M.J. Dunne
2004 - 2011
11
TRADE
12
1.
3.
4.
2.
6.
How we were: By 1914 New Zealands trade market was
worth $7 billion (in 2014 dollars) with trade of wool, frozen

meat, tallow, timber and gold to Britain making up almost 85%
of exports. In turn, Britain supplied up to 70% of our imports.
By 1925, improved pasture and livestock breeding, coupled
with the growth in freezing works and dairy factories, saw
meat, dairy products, and wool exports grow. Around 90%
of these goods were shipped to Britain until the 1960s.
By the 1930s New Zealands balance sheets were following the
global depression. Ministers of Finance saw great potential
for New Zealand to trade its way out of financial strife, and the
decade saw the beginning of sea changes in Customs sales
tax, heavy import restrictions, and the new dimension of trade
barriers through import controls.
Across the 50s, 60s and 70s New Zealand was heavily
regulated. Imported goods were severely restricted, creating
painstaking work for import licence holders who often had
to have a licence for each individual item.
New Zealands trade with Europe started to gather pace
in the 1960s. When Britain joined the European Economic
Community (EEC) in 1973 New Zealand had to work hard
to protect its market access, and was forced to look for new
export markets.
In the 2000s the EU was an important export market for
New Zealand meat. Tourism became a major income earner,
and milk powder became an important export.
7.
5.
8.
How we are: Today New Zealand trades with nearly every

country in the world, with our main export markets in China,
Australia, the European Union, the United States, and Japan.
Global trade has changed over the last decade, and New
Zealand benefits from our proximity to emerging economies
in the Asia-Pacific region. Exports to China, ASEAN (the
Association of East Asian Nations) and the rest of the world
have increased; while exports to our long-time trading partners
such as the US, European Union, and Japan have not.
The flow of goods across our borders continues to change. An
increasing number of small import consignments through online
shopping, and a greater focus on assuring the integrity of our
exports before they leave New Zealand are major demands.
Our trade is worth more than $100 billion in imports and
exports. These goods are cleared through five international
airports and 14 ports.
In 2013, China took 21%

of our exports. This was
up from 4.7% of N.Z.s
exports in 1988.
9.
Images: 1. Display of frozen export carcasses outside the

British New Zealand Meat Company, Christchurch. Webb,
Steffano, 1880-1967: Collection of negatives. Alexander
Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. 2. Waterfront
officers checking container seals in the 1970s. 3. New Zealand.
Tourism Department. [New Zealand Government Tourist
Department]: New Zealand. On a New Zealand sheep
station. Since the first shipment was made in 1882, New
Zealand lamb has been famous for its quality. Now, over a
million lambs a month are shipped to the United Kingdom.
Printed in England by Sun Printers Ltd, London and Watford
[1940s]. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New
Zealand. 4. Waterfront officers checking cargo from a Union
Steam Ship Co, roll-on/roll-off vessel in the 1970s.
5. Officer carrying out validation for exporter involved with
the Secure Export Scheme. 6. The iron barquentine Jerfalcon
berthed at Port Chalmers, alongside the Shaw, Savill & Albion
Co. Export Stores. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington,
New Zealand. 7. Containers at port in South East Asia. 8. An
examining officer conducts a physical check on imported
goods. 9. Maclean, E W, fl 1937. New Zealand frozen meat
trade; history of a sheep from a New Zealand sheep station
to the Central Meat Market, London. Reprinted by permission
from The Pictorial World, July 21 1887. Alexander Turnbull
Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
13
1.
2.
3.
COLLECTING WHATS DUE

For well over a century NZ Customs was unashamedly a revenue
collection agency. As governments changed their focus, and
products and property moved from place to place, Customs history
is full of men and women applying painstaking detail to enforce
tariffs, tax, and duty on every good imaginable.
GST and automation cemented a sea change in Customs revenue collection. Growth
in trade meant it was simply impossible to process each and every commodity with
a bulldog clip and stamps. Todays revenue assurance function was born trusting
traders to declare tax correctly without a manual audit. Services for importers and
manufacturers sped up, and the customer-centric philosophy began
to change officers approach.
21st century revenue collection is built on collaboration. By understanding our
customers, what they want and need, and how they prefer to interact with us we make
it easy for them to comply. In the early 20th century 74% of NZ taxes were indirect taxes
collected by Customs. This went down to 36% in the late 1960s.
Today, Customs collects around 15% of the total Crown revenue and in 2014
Customs collected a record $11.847 billion in revenue.
FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

Then: Until 1920 all New Zealand trade arrangements outside of the
Commonwealth were made on our behalf by Britain.
Now: Customs plays a key role in progressing New Zealands Free Trade
Agreements. We take a lead role in negotiating Customs Procedures and Rules

of Origin Chapters of the Agreements so our exporters can meet and thereby
gain preference into trading partners markets.
This role does not end when the agreements come into force. Customs is involved
in ongoing implementation and facilitation to ensure traders realise the full benefits
of Free Trade Agreements, and we work hard to provide assistance to traders when
customs related issues arise in overseas markets.
4.
Photo caption: Comptroller Carolyn Tremain with the Secretary General
of the World Customs Organistaion Kunio Mikuriya.
TRADE ASSURANCE
Then: In the past Customs was focused on ensuring that importers and domestic
manufacturers subject to excise duty met their revenue obligations.
Now: Over the past 15 years countries have required more information about
our export goods at earlier stages of the supply chain before the exports leave
New Zealand.
Assurance may be required over the:

Proof of origin of goods to qualify for Free Trade Agreement lower duty rates
Traceability of the origin of the goods in response to food safety concerns
Security of goods to minimise terrorist attacks.
Secure Exports Scheme:

Security concerns also mean that some countries require additional assurance about the
nature of the goods before export. Customs Secure Exports Scheme has 126 members,
representing one third of total exports. The scheme recognises traders that take steps
to pack and transport their goods securely, which results in less Customs intervention
in New Zealand and in countries we have Mutual Recognition Agreements with the
United States, Japan and Korea.
Images: 1. New Zealand pears; Count 22. Packhams Triumph Fancy - I [1940-1960]. [Ephemera and labels related to New Zealand fruit, fruit production, orchards, fruit export. 1900-1978]. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington,
New Zealand. 2. Wellington wharf workers moving bales of export sheep skins. Smith, Sydney Charles, 1888-1972: Photographs of New Zealand. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. 3. Loading apples for export.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. 4. Cole, Edward, fl 1930s. Cole, Edward, fl 1930s: New Zealand apples, the Empires star turn. The Dominion of New Zealand [1930s?]. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington,
New Zealand. 5. Brewery staff and their product from Simpson and Harts of Weatherstones. Every cask required revenue stamps, or Customs would prosecute. Photo dated 1894, Guardians. 6. Automobile Associations of New
Zealand: Motor vehicles are taxed as luxuries in New Zealand [ca 1933]. Automobile Associations of New Zealand: Motor taxation; where the petrol tax goes! Issued by the Automobile Associations of New Zealand [ca 1933].
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
14
6.
5.
JOINT BORDER
MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (JBMS)
The Joint Border Management
System (JBMS) is an initiative with
the Ministry for Primary Industries
to provide essential information
technology infrastructure to support
border management. It has two
key components, the Trade Single
Window, and enhanced risk and
intelligence capability.
The TSW opened on 1 August 2013,
and has handled more than two million
transactions - 100% of outward and 60% of
inward border transactions each month.
The Trade Single Window is the single
most significant change in border
management since CusMod was turned
on nearly two decades ago.
It is critically important to New
Zealand trade and will be a key
enabler of the efficient movement
of trade within the supply chain,
providing swifter border processing
- with 65 seconds the median time for
transactions to be processed.
Ultimately exporters, importers,
and others in the cargo industry will
send shipment details electronically
to one place, rather than to several
government agencies.
THE TARIFF
All goods imported into New Zealand
must be classified within the Tariff
of New Zealand. It sets out the taxes
imposed on imported goods and
classifies everything except for air and
human remainsas dutiable goods.
New Zealand began using its own
tariff on 1 July 1841, which listed just
a few items such as brandy
and tobacco.
By 1851 there were 265 items in the tariff.
The tariff was first used to assist local
industry in 1845, when livestock,
seeds and plants became free of
duty. In 1880 beer became the first
industry to be protected when a duty
margin was placed on an imported
product. This was followed by the
introduction of protections on
clothing and boot manufacturers,
and brass, iron and machinery
in 1888.
The tariff was used to protect local

trade until 1988 when a new tariff
was introduced to harmonise with
other countries.
The twentieth century saw more

tariffs introduced to protect New
Zealand industries, encourage
employment, and keep living costs
down. In 1934 legislation introduced
heavy duties on competing imports
and concessions on raw materials
and heavy machinery for farming
and manufacturing.
Customs duty calculator, Whats

My Duty helps nearly 40,000 online
shoppers each month to work out
what they will pay in GST and
tariffs when their goods arrive at the
border. Its available online or as
a free app.
Today, most imported goods attract

no tariff duty at all but a 5% and 10%
tariff duty applies to some goods,
such as clothing and footwear.
Under New
Zealands free
trade agreements,
preferential tariffs
or lower tariff rates
apply to imported
goods from specific
countries if certain
requirements are met.
Goods also become
duty free by way of
a tariff concession
that is applied where
no suitable alternative goods are
produced or manufactured locally
in New Zealand.
15
ALCOHOL
& TOBACCO
16
The white man

and the whisky
bottle came to
New Zealand
together.
Quoted in J. Malton Murray, Rev. J. Cocker, Temperance and
Prohibition in New Zealand, The Epworth Press, 1930. P.20.
1.
Provincial licensing, ever increasing duty, and the scourge of illicit stills kept early Customs officers fighting New Zealanders thirst
for whisky, rum, gin and brandy for decades. Illicit distilling rose dramatically during the depressions of the 1880s and 1930s.
Over a Barrel
Prior to the 1980s Customs control over distillation and alcohol manufacture was
a hands-on, manual operation locking up distillation plants, and supervising the
breaking down of ethyl alcohol and imported over proof spirits on site.
Spirits were usually imported from Europe and USA in wooden barrels. Officers
(gaugers) had to open and dip each individual barrel and then use a series of
wooden measuring sticks and slide rules to gauge actual volumes being imported
inside. Barrels were then re-gauged just prior to the bottling process to allow for any
leaking and evaporation from time that they were imported.
Prior to the introduction of GST most barrels and bottled spirts were stored duty
free in bonded warehouses. Duty was paid when they were entered for home
consumption on a clearing entry, usually in smaller case lots. Most wine and spirit
merchants operated a bonded warehouse and the contents of all of these were
physically recorded by Customs in the warehouse keepers register.
The working world for import officers, licensing, and the motor vehicle section was
ruled by paper manual hard copy entries, and dealing with volumes and volumes
of ledgers and files. All of this work was done under the watchful eye of the supervisor.
Excise by contrast wasnt desk-bound, nor was it supervised. The excise officer was
(within reason) his own agent, who had generous overtime available, and a vehicle.
Who would turn down work in a distillery, winery or brewery for that of a 1970s
government office? Although, some Customs men had the more mundane duty
of licensing dry cleaners.
Excise duty/taxes only apply to products actually made in New Zealand and were
generally at lower rates than imports. Imported spirits and cigarettes paid import
duties that were prescribed in the tariff at the time of clearance for home consumption.
For example, gin distilled and bottled in NZ attracted excise duty at $4.50 a litre while
gin bottled in the UK paid import duty at $5.50 per litre. The day before Budget
Night saw Customs offices around the country being swamped by firms clearing
goods from bond trying to beat any rate increases.
Emphasis on excise changed quickly in 1986 when GSTs introduction abolished
a temporary sales tax (introduced in the1930s) and duty free bonded warehouses.
Excise then incorporated all NZ manufacturers of wine, beers, spirits, cars, fuels
and tobacco products, as well as users of ethyl alcohol under a Customs permit.
As the numbers of wineries and small scale breweries grew rapidly in number
and scale Customs previous method of hands-on control could no longer provide
acceptable levels of revenue assurance. Audit was the solution.
By todays 21st global standards, Customs has an enviable reputation in part
for the management of client and broker deferred payment schemes, and debt
management processes. Excise duties on relevant domestic production, import
tariffs, excise-equivalent duties and GST on imported goods is all collected digitally.
Trust, customers self-service, digital transactions, and priority on the exporter and
importers experience are truly a lifetime away from the days of fighting bootleggers
in the Hokonui.
Image: 1. Detective Sergeant Hewitt and Inspector Fahey, with seized distilling equipment, snapped by Cordery on
10 December 1933, in the barren outback of Southland above Invercargill and about Gore as published in Guardians.
17
Every time a
traveller abandons
their tobacco at
Customs or decides
not to bring it in at
all, is a victory for
our health system.
Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam
Lotu-Iiga
2.
1.
Smoke Out
Tobacco remains a major source of Customs revenue. In colonial times duties raised
the price considerably, and smuggling was rife. In the 1880s the original Customs
patrol vessel chased tobacco smugglers around the northern coasts of New Zealand.
Today, excise tax collected on tobacco is used to reduce tobacco consumption in line
with governments commitment of a Smokefree New Zealand by 2025.
Duty free limits on tobacco were reduced in November 2014. Within the first few
months (to June 2015) Customs destroyed more than 2.5 tonnes of abandoned
tobacco, and collected $1.35 million in additional duty and taxes.
Tobacco for Sheep

Tobacco normally attracted a duty, but Customs officers were allowed to issue
a quantity of tobacco free of duty if it was used for washing sheep. The
owner had to declare that his sheep had scab. The tobacco was saturated
with spirits of tar or turpentine for 12 hours, and only then could it leave the
warehouse free of duty.
Quoted in A. H. McLintock, Crown colony government in New Zealand. Wellington: R.E. Owen, Govt. Print., 1958, p. 155.
3.
Images: 1. Tobacco duty free limits were reduced in November 2014 2. Minister of Customs
Nicky Wagner and Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga with some of the 2.5 tonnes
of abandoned tobacco. 3. A Customs officer checks on production at a local tobacco factory.
18
1.
Eagle Eyes
Bevvy Levy
Make it Crafty
Heavy duties on imported spirits

and excise on home-grown alcohol
encouraged both smuggling and illicit
stills. Upcountry and downstream, eagle
eyes at every port; our earnest officers
hounded out the contraband, illicit stills
and beer duty dodgers.
Excise on alcohol has been levied since

1868. Officers meticulous measurements
on barrels and bottles determined the
percentage of alcoholic content, and
how much excise needed to be paid.
Such calculations were a major focus
of Customs activity throughout the
20th century.
New Zealand is now unique in our

approach to excise licensing allowing
alcohol to be produced for private use
without licensing or duty. In the profitmaking world, excise and port officers
around the country help local brewers
and vineyards to understand the ins and

outs of different licence requirements.
Todays voluntary compliance philosophy
is a universe apart from our early days of
policing the craft brewer of colonial times.
Image: 1. Customs officers in the bond room checking spirit

strength on the Sikes hydrometer, C. M. Baildon on the right.
Photo lent by the Corban family as published in Guardians.
19
INVESTIGATIONS
& INTELLIGENCE
20
1.
2.
TIP OFFS AND BLACK BOOKS

In the old days Customs officers gathered
information manually, relying on legwork,
memory, nous, and tip-offs from informants.
The focus changed from illicit whisky stills in the
depression era, to indecent (now classic) books
in the 1920s, dutiable luxury consumer goods in
post-wartime 1950s (including, once, a parrot),
and drugs from the 1970s onwards.
In the 1930s Invercargill Collector of Customs Cordery became

renowned for successfully tracking Hokonui bush bootleggers.
In 1950 Collector of Customs Henry Foster described James
Joyces Ulysses as one of the dirtiest I have seen, written by
a mental defective. Ulysses was let through to bona fide
students of literature, with no guarantee against subsequent
prosecution by the Police.
3.
Images: 1. A typical task for post-war Customs staff checking imported goods, 1948. National
Publicity Studios Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library & Guardians. 2. The fake suitcase bottom
has been a tried and true method for conveying illegal drugs through Customs over the years.
Photograph taken by NZ Customs Service. 3. Ulysses by James Joyce. Photo: www.biblioklept.org.
21
The intelligence scene really started to develop in the 1970s

when drugs hit New Zealand, Customs encountered the Mr Asia
drug syndicate the largest of its time, and air travel took off.
Customs compiled hand-typed lists of names or alerts in a
folder called the Black Book, so Customs officers knew who
to stop. The success rate boiled down to how many names
they could recall at any one time.
Alert lists got automated from the mid-70s. But every Thursday
morning we still needed to print one for each booth and spent a
lot of time printing, hole punching, and adding lists to the Alert
Folders. The folders themselves were large and cumbersome
and the list had grown to hundreds. Checking each passenger
became very time consuming. These folders remained after
the introduction of CusMod as the system bedded in as it was
prone to crash often and without warning. This meant a mad
scramble by the primary line person in charge to race down
to the Control room, uplift the alert list folders, and distribute
them to primary booths.
In 1976 Customs got its first computer system CASPER
(contrived from Statistical Processing of Entries and
Retrieval) Assistant Comptroller Jack Johnson proudly noted
that Customs could now detect commercial fraud in eight
hours instead of six months.
22
The Black Book was fed by CASPERs printouts of alerts, but

these still had to be manually compared with the names on
flight manifests. Later, this step was computerised, but the
Black Book was kept up because the old computers crashed
regularly.
In the early 1980s there was still a significant manual element
to intelligence gathering; for example, trainees sifted through
newspapers, clipping articles about people prosecuted for drug
possession. If a name came up more than once, they would be
put on alert.
By 1989, Customs intelligence was very much focused on
drugs, with its first major seizure of 20 kilos of cocaine on
the South American banana ship Provincia del Guayas, in
Auckland.
A single integrated database, CusMod, was installed in the late
1990s, signalling the start of the paperless era and agency-wide
decisions. The computer system gave a quantum leap forward
in Customs ability to evaluate, rate and access information in
real-time, giving true utility to the notion of intelligence-enabled
decision making. CusMod greatly enhanced our ability to target
prohibited goods and known risk entities in travel corridors and
provided the drive to deliver intelligence support across trade, a
capability that had been absent to that time.
Cartoon above: From around the early 1980s Customs

engaged the publics help to catch drug smugglers around
New Zealands extensive coastline, through tips to the
Coastwatch phone number.
1.
2.
Images: 1. The FirstDefender identifies drugs instantly

without opening packaging, keeping our officers safe,
and keeping pace with fast-changing formulas. 2. SmartGate
plots over 30 points on a face, and compares it to a digital
passport photo to a high degree of accuracy to confirm the
travellers identity and raise any alerts.
DEEP DATA DENIZENS

Customs now uses sophisticated surveillance gadgets,
computers that juggle big data and join up dots that the
human mind cannot correlate, and global intelligence
networks to counter increasingly complex global organised
crime and terrorism.
The consequences of 9/11 saw a major injection of resource
to protect national security and economic risks. NZ Customs
committed to protect the US Homeland through a Mutual
Recognition Agreement to facilitate our trade. The critical
role of information management, risk management and
intelligence-enabled management of material risk remains
fundamental to the role of intelligence in Customs to this day.
New Zealands international intelligence relationships include
a vital seat on the Border 5 group with the UK, US, Australia,
and Canada, and increasingly close cooperation with China,
Asia, and the Pacific.
Customs recently acquired the US Automated Targeting
System, a computer programme which gauges the risk of
arriving passengers or cargo based on a range of known data
about them. By agreement, many airlines provide detailed
passenger information from their reservation systems
well before the plane lands. Customs will begin screening
passengers on departure from late 2015.
Customs and the Ministry of Primary Industries opened

the multi-million dollar Joint Border Management Systems
(JBMS) Trade Single Window in August 2013 a single portal
through which all exports and imports clear electronically.
This has handled over two million transactions, and by the end
of 2016 all exporters and importers will use it. The rich data
it gathers over the years will fuel a powerful state-of-the-art
intelligence tool currently being developed for JBMS.
Customs intelligence targets drugs and child objectionable
material. People can now carry thousands of images and
pieces of data locked in smartphones and laptops, or the
Cloud, and our technology capability has to keep pace.
Online shopping has exploded, and the dark web has sprung
up where people can order illegal drugs and objectionable
material online, believing themselves to be anonymous, using
virtual currencies like the bitcoin.
SmartGates facial recognition technology has helped
Customs speed through the increasing volumes of passengers,
automatically identifying and stopping suspects with a very
high degree of accuracy. Over 14 million passengers have used
it since 2009 from New Zealand, Australia, the UK, US and
Canada, and Customs is planning to open SmartGate to more
nationalities.
23
CUSTOMS
AT SEA
24
1. 1.
Image: 1. The original Hawk was made with puriri frames

and kauri. She was 90 feet and 3 inches long, with a beam
20 feet and 3 inches, and weighed 84 tonnes. She was sold
just 6 years later and shes still going strong as a pleasure
cruiser overseas.
STOPPING SMUGGLERS
Responsible for protecting territorial waters 24 nautical miles
from New Zealands coastline, Customs has always had a
strong connection with the sea. In colonial years tobacco
smuggling was a serious concern, and enforcement activity
involved keeping watch along the long, rugged coastline, and
chasing smugglers on the high seas.
Perhaps the most renowned of Customs maritime experts
was Captain Henry Parker, whose career surged in 1868 after
seizing a schooner for tobacco smuggling, and persuading
officials to pursue other smugglers. Customs had needed a

special craft for many years and the specially commissioned
Hawk reported for duty in Auckland in 1881. At 3000, she was
quite a splurge a cutting-edge, custom-built cutter made for
chasing smugglers.
By the end of the 19th century, Customs was on top of the
tobacco smuggling. Rummaging of ships in search of revenueevading contraband continued at the waterfront over the many
decades to follow.
25
2.
3.
1.1.
4.
INTELLIGENCE AND PARTNERSHIPS

Customs maritime role evolved during World War II,
expanding to monitoring and building intelligence for national
security. A War Book was issued to Customs collectors
detailing procedures and instructions for suspicious vessels:
with a view to preventing any hostile act by prospective
enemy merchant ships in the harbour. Reports to naval
intelligence staff were required if anything worthy of suspicion
was found when examining cargo. This link strengthened over
the war years, and is maintained to date.
In the later part of the 20th century, with the increase in drug
smuggling, Hawk II and Hawk III were commissioned in 1978
and 1986 respectively to continue the tradition of the original

Hawk from a century earlier now in high-tech pursuit of drug
smugglers. By the 1980s, a key part of Customs maritime role
was maintaining surveillance and collecting intelligence.
A well-known example is the 1989 joint (Customs, Police and
Navy) Operation Anaconda that involved Hawk III looking out
for, hailing and then shadowing the banana ship Rio Amazonas
which had previously been caught overseas with 50kg cocaine
on board. Customs had seized 20kg cocaine off its sister ship
in Auckland earlier in the year.
National Maritime Co-ordination

Joint partnerships and requirements in the maritime space led
to the establishment of the National Maritime Co-ordination
Centre in 2002. Defence Force aircraft and Navy patrol vessels
are managed through the NMCCs coordination of maritime
patrol and surveillance activities. The NMCC became an
independent unit of Customs in 2006, and while it is a wholeof-government resource, and operationally independent, it is
responsible to the Comptroller of Customs.
26
5.
6.
Hawk IV is integrated into the NMCCs patrol planning and
activities. Today she continues surveillance and patrol activities
in the northern parts of the country, much like her predecessors.
Most of the patrols are now seasonal, including the yacht
season. A support role is also provided to other agencies such
as Conservation, and Primary Industries. Patrols are carried
out jointly with Police and Navy vessels as needed.
Images: 1. Customs response group aboard a navy inflatable

boat approach a vessel that is suspected of carrying weapons
during Exercise Maru in 2008. The international multiagency exercise tested agencys response to the interdiction
of a vessel suspected of being involved in the trafficking
of weapons of mass destruction. 2. Rio Amazonas had
previously been caught overseas with 50kg cocaine on board.
Image from The Guardians at the Gate by David McGill.
35. Hawk I, II & III. 69. Hawk IV on patrol.
8.
7.
9.
Customs maritime role may have evolved significantly from 175 years ago, but is in some ways
still the same. The lookout for potential illegal activity continues, and Customs presence on the
water provides a strong deterrence. At the same time, Customs facilitative role is factored in
with many overseas yachties hailed a welcome.
As New Zealanders triumphed over lifting the Webb Ellis for the first time in 1987, NZ Customs
had a new trophy in the enforcement cabinet the first dive team. The team celebrated 25 years
of operation in 2012.
27
CUSTOMS
AT PLAY
28
Customs spirit of partnership extends beyond the border and onto the playing field. For well over a
hundred years, Customs people working together have played together. Bowls, hockey, cricket and golf,
to rugby, soccer, netball and even tug-of-war; the list of sporting events that Customs has participated
in over the years is substantial. When asked why sports? responses seem consistent.
1.
Sport has always been an important part of New Zealands
fabric; it brings people together for a common purpose. Being
able to play gives us that social side of enjoying each others
company we bond through sports and, in a Customs sense, we
bring this bond back to work to carry out our common duties in
the same way.
The greatest results are the intangible ones: teamwork, pride,
relationship building, unity, and the rewards of perseverance
and challenges.
For example in an international tournaments tug-of war a
few years ago, whether each pull was won or lost, everyone
would cheer, smile, pat each other on the back, high five, give
praise and celebrate our effort. Imagine transferring this
3.
2.
Sport has
always been an
important part
of New Zealands
fabric; it brings
people together
for a common
purpose.
camaraderie, team work, whole-hearted support and effort for

the task at hand into the working environment we represent.
Many local competitions were expanded to include
stakeholders such as airport workers or brokers, and became
a great opportunity to build relationships outside work. The
first golf tournament in Auckland between officers and agents
started in the 1960s and is still played today.
Officers whove represented Customs in rugby fondly recall the
Public Service Tournament, with weekly matches permitting
participants to leave work early to play. The Otaki Cup
contested by Customs, brokers, and ports staff was not for the
faint-hearted. But some of the most heated contests were in the
annual Married vs Singles game not likely to be resurrected
anytime soon!
4.
5.
Images: 1. H.M. Customs and Agents Cricket Club Winners A Grade Championship Wellington Mercantile Cricket League, 1929-30 season. 2. H.M. Customs
Rugby Football Team Winners Ronaldson & Blue Star Line Cups, 1959. 3. H M C Wellington [New Zealand Customs Department] senior grade basketball team
with Lady Macalister trophy. Crown Studios Ltd: Negatives and prints. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. 4. Customs Department Cricket Club
Winners of A Grade Championship W.M.C.L. 1961-62. 5. Ritchie McCaw takes a catch at the Customs vs rugby celebrities cricket match.
29
2.
3.
1.
4.
Customs cricket teams nationally have, for several decades,

regularly participated in local tournaments. In the Auckland
Businesshouse Cricket Association league, the team
was predominantly in the A grade, and often won the
competition.
Customs participation in sporting events also extends over
the shores, and for many years Customs teams have batted,
bounced and bowled at various international tournaments
allowing an opportunity to play with like-minded enforcement
agencies, and nurture networking at its best.
Both Wellington and Auckland (supplemented by staff
nationally) regularly participated in the Australasian Customs
Cricket Carnival and hosted it several times against
Australian state and territory teams.
The 2015 Australasian Customs Bowls tournament saw current
staff and those of yesteryear combine to [almost] clean sweep
the trophies. Many of the participants are broken-down
cricketers!
Today in its tenth year, the Auckland airport league
tournament is still just as popular, and brings together
the airport community. Auckland Airports league team 2015
(photo top right) played against Avsec on 15 June and lost a
close game 38 32.
The most recent international event was the World Police and
Fire Games held in Virginia in early 2015. Whatever the sport,
the level of tournament or the history behind it they all have
something in common a commitment to come together and
make an effort for fitness, friendship, pride, and a win.
30
5.
Nicky Mark was part of the World Police and Fire Games 2015
York Dragons who came away with a silver medal. New York
Police Department placed 1st.
Images: 1. Customs Cricket Team 1985. 2. Auckland Airports

league team, 2015. 34. Ali Williams runs between the wickets at
a Customs vs rugby celebrities cricket match. 5. York Dragons,
Dragon Boating team who won silver at the 2015 World Police
and Fire Games.
Thoughts from Customs participants at

the 2012 Australasian Police & Emergency
Services Games:
The games gave a good chance to network
not only amongst our own agency but also
with those from across the country and
further afield to Australia. It was a great
way to get to know colleagues and show
support and encouragement, bringing
pride and a sense of belonging
to everyone.
The week was invaluable to me not only
meeting people from within Customs that
I only knew by name previously, but also
the wider enforcement community. I have
made some valuable contacts which will
no doubt complement my work in the
future.
The experience I had is absolutely
priceless. It is such a huge boost to team
morale amongst all competitors and
it also reinforces so many aspects that
reflect on what we do as Customs officers.
One of these is the aspect of teamwork
and working together to achieve a
common goal.
A lot of the teams commented on how
we were the friendliest opponents theyve
had throughout the tournament and I
like to think that being friendly is part of
Customs culture and Im always proud
to be representing us.
Images: Various past and present New Zealand

Customs Service sporting teams
31
CANINE
CUSTOMS
32
1.
Customs Detector Dog Unit was born in 1974. Three black Labradors, Angus and Tina (Auckland), and
Jet (Wellington) were trained to hunt out the substance problems of the time mostly cannabis and
hashish. Detection training for white powder substances began in the late 1980s.
Dogs are a valuable asset for Customs,
and it was identified that they might also
be valuable to criminals after a failed
attempt to steal a dog from a Customs
vehicle. The only evidence of the failed
break in were small traces of blood in
the vehicle thanks to detector dog Sam
(rumoured to be part German Shepherd)
who decided a stranger wasnt taking
him anywhere.
As a result, secure kennels were built as a
base to keep for Customs dogs safe while
their handlers caught up on any paperwork.
In the late 1990s, methamphetamine
began to take hold of New Zealands
drug users. To tackle the hard drugs

market the focus for Customs dogs
shifted to detecting Class A drugs and
compounds used for making meth or P.
Customs first white powder only dogs,
Dallas and Tess, graduated in 2004.
The first of NZ Customs dogs

sourced from the Australian breeding
programme and trained in New
Zealand were Anzac, Karma, and Titan
all graduating as operational drug
detectors in 2008.
Todays detector dogs are sourced

from the Australian Border Force dog
breeding centre in Melbourne, and
come to us when they are about 12 to
18 months old. They are trained by a
dedicated Customs training team in
Auckland, and assessed at the Police
Dog Training Centre in Trentham
before graduating as operational
teams (handler and dog).
From 2013 Customs and Police began

working together to train New Zealands
first cash detector dogs, and now most
Customs dogs become dual-trained cash
and drug detectors.
3.
The undeclared cash theyve intercepted

over the past two years currently sits at
around $6 million.
2.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Images: 1. Senior Customs Officer Monica Hoeg and Lulu at the National Police Dog Championship in 2008. 2. CCO Mike Brown
with explosive detector dog Jake on a training exercise in 2003. 3. Officers involved with reality TV show Dog Squad in 2013.
4. Detector dog graduation in the late 1970s. 5. Searching commercial vessels at sea can involve lowering a detector dog into the
ships hold. 6. Chad Golding with detector dog India at Auckland Airport. 7. Customs detector dog Roxy is deployed for search
activity on yachts in Auckland and the far North during the busy summer season in 2011/12.
33
A SNAPSHOT OF CUSTOMS DETECTOR DOGS
1974
EARLY 80S
2003
2004
Customs first detector

dogs get to work.
Rex does pirouettes around suitcases

within Air NZ cargo. They contained
300 kilos of compacted cannabis.
Customs first Explosives

Detector Dogs start working in
Christchurch and Auckland.
First white powder only dogs

graduated Dallas and Tess.
A DOGS LIFE: TOIS STORY (Operational September 1980 to October 1987)

Labrador Toi was born on 1 June 1979 and recruited at nine
months to become a Customs drug detector. Toi and her
handler Roger Davis trained and graduated from the Police
Training Centre as an operational detector dog team on 26
September 1980.
Only a few months later on 11 December, while searching a
South Auckland residence with Police, Toi found 5 tinnies
hidden in the back of a sofa. This was the first of many drug
finds in Tois career, with a total in excess of 300 interceptions.
34
In July 1981, Toi and Roger were involved in a search warrant

with Police at the property of a known associate of the Mr Asia
syndicate. During the search Toi started to claw at the skirting
board in the kitchen. Once prised open, a stash of $25,000
cash and fake passports were found hidden inside the wall. Toi
hadnt been trained to find cash and it was believed that there
must have been drug residue that had sparked her interest.
However, this was the first of many cash finds for Toi and it was
later thought that she was indicating on the cash because of
its distinctive odour. In her career Toi had more than 300 drug
interceptions and found over $300,000 hidden cash.
Toi aged 4 years
2008
2013
2015
First trans-Tasman detector dogs

graduate Anzac, Karma, and Titan.
These were the first of NZ Customs
dogs sourced from the Australian
breeding programme and trained in
New Zealand.
Four cash detector dogs found

more than $1 million in undeclared
or concealed cash during their
first three months on the job. The
dual-trained dogs can detect cash
amounts of more than $10,000.
Detector Dog Teams based

in Auckland, Wellington and
Christchurch target illicit drugs,
cash and support Customs
operations across New Zealand.
NZ Customs assists China and

Hong Kong Customs to help
establish a cash detector dog
capability for both agencies.
Customs trainers work on a joint
project with NZ and Fiji Police
to establish a detector dog
capability Fiji.
H.M. Customs Drug Dog Section

Handler Roger Davis with Tim
and Toi. Circa Dec 1986.
35
OUR
FEMALE
FIRSTS
36
1.
OUT OF THE MAIL ROOM INTO DRUG INTELLIGENCE

Customs workplaces across the 20th century were totally male dominated. From the 1950s we made slow
moves out of the era of tea ladies, and not being allowed to wear trousers at work. Until around the early
1970s almost everyone was Mr. The hierarchy was strictly controlled by the colour of your pen general
staff used red, supervisors green, and the audit officer purple. This was strictly controlled.
Until WWII Customs employed very few women outside of roles like shorthand typists. During 1939 to 1945 the numbers
of temporary staff in New Zealands public service nearly trebled from 6604 to 17,601. The majority were women.
2.
Comptroller Carolyn Tremain

Before I joined, a number of Customs women sent emails to
me to say how pleased they were with my appointment. And
I didnt think too much of it at the time. But after my first few
weeks I was quickly aware that I was an unusual choice for
Customs. My experience with organisations before Customs
was definitely different. I was not from a law enforcement
background, and my experience in the public sector was with
more gender balanced departments. I was a little surprised
to realise how few women there were in Customs senior

leadership roles.
It did feel like a bit of a weight and it took a little time
to come to grips with the enormity of the Comptrollers
responsibilities. I feel responsible to both Customs
tremendous legacy, and to do what I can to lead the way for
future women leaders in New Zealands enforcement sector.
First Female Customs Dive Team Member Nicky McKinney

I started with Customs back in the days when the
service was called the Customs Department and the
logo looked like a bunch of staples stuck together. Back
then taxis were provided for staff to get to and from
work if you were not located at your local headquarters.
The course was very challenging and I learned a lot

about myself and also learned about working as a team
and recognising and working to each team members
strengths and weaknesses.
I became a member of the Dive team in 1991 after

completing the Navy Ships Diver Course. I was the
only Customs person who finished the course that year,
as there were a couple of injuries sustained by other
applicants, and was the only woman on the course.
Paul Smith
Other Dive team members at the time were:

Garry Collins
Andrew Walker
Mark Leadbetter.
Image above: Another day at the office! Left to right: Dive supervisor and Senior Customs Officer Paul Smith,
SCO Nicky McKinney, SCO Andrew Walker, CCO Garry Collins and SCO Mark Leadbetter (ranks as of 1992).
The Dive team was relatively new to Customs and to

start off, we all used our own personal dive equipment
and were reimbursed $3 for wear and tear each
time we used it. It was a rewarding experience and
a privilege and an honour to have been a member
of this team. The work was very challenging and the
conditions and environment very harsh at times.
Nicky was awarded the Queens Service Medal (QSM)
in the 2007 Queens Birthday honours for her service
to Customs.
Images: 1. Three of the first female uniformed officers at Auckland

airport in 1973 2. The Customs Statistics branch, 1941.
37
First Women in Uniform

Yvonne Featherston served Customs 1973 1998
Former officer Yvonne Featherston remembers being called
out of clerical duties to assist Auckland Airports all male
Boarding Inspector teams. I used to get called in at night or
on weekends to help with searches on women. Sometimes they
would use Air New Zealand stewardesses to do the searching,
but no one really wanted to do it.
Along with Noeline Sinclair and Audrey Barnett, Yvonne was
one of our first female uniformed officers at the airport from
1973 (Pictured right). The roster teams maintained just one
woman per shift for around two or three years, before rotation
of female staff from trade and revenue roles into the airport
became common.
After four years processing passengers, and passing on
her search tips, Yvonne took on the role of our first female
investigator, before moving to prosecutions. My 25 years
with Customs gave me everything I could possibly have ever
wanted. I was attracted to the public service because it was one
of the few places that offered equal pay. I always had a very fair
deal, and I fell into all my jobs like they were made for me.
Women in Numbers
In June 2002 there were 337 women in Customs 246
working in Operations representing 37.5% of the Ops
group.
In June 2015 there were 502 women in Customs 404
working in Operations representing 42% of the Ops
group.
As of June 2015, 23.3% of management roles are filled
by women (management is Assistant Chief Customs
Officer level or above, and with staff responsibilities)
38
Wellington National Drug Intelligence Bureau
Current Longest Serving Female Officer
Trish Welch served Customs 1974 2009
CCO Jan Falconer joined Customs in 1974 in New Plymouth
Following her Uncle Johnny into Customs,

Trishs career took her from exam sheds to the
airport, general training to intelligence analysis;
enforcement policy to Intelligence.
Trishs early office days were computer free. Full
of gestetner copiers, typing pools, tea ladies,
filing spikes and green binding tape; carbon
paper memos, and having to hand in your empty
pen to get a new one. There have been many
opportunities and changes in my Customs career.
Early on I was fortunate enough to have Molly
Stapleton as my Supervising Customs Officer.
Molly encouraged me to try new roles, and to
believe I had the ability to achieve. She was the
one of the few, if not the only, Supervising Customs
Officers in the Port of Wellington in the 1970s.
I was successful in getting a Revenue officer position with her support, and telling
me to disregard comments like She is just a girl and wont be able to check entries
and the tariff. Far too young to be able to do the job.
Trish says she was fortunate enough to move into the new field of intelligence analysis
in 1985. This was an exciting opportunity to start collecting information, applying an
analytical process and produce value added intelligence. From here I was appointed
to the role of Supervising Customs Officer in the National Drug Intelligence Bureau
in 1987. I was the first female Customs Officer to be appointed to the bureau. We were
based in Police National Headquarters with three Customs staff, and four Police staff.
Another highlight was the opportunity to work with Craig Thompson and Liz Pond
on developing the Customs Intelligence analysis course. NZ Customs Intelligence
was a growing area and we wanted to develop Customs specific training. My career
as an adult trainer specialising in intelligence has grown and developed over the last
nine years or so, and I can honestly say my career in Customs has been instrumental
in providing opportunities and the belief that I can do anything.
My first role of warehouse keeper was

completely old school, hand writing in a
huge bound book of excise entries going in
and out of licensed premises. I transferred to
Auckland where I worked in pre-Revenue for
eight months and 22 days and I counted the
days down till I was rotated to the Auckland
International Airport. This was in the days
of Mr Asia so it was very interesting. The
terminal was at the domestic Auckland
Airport, and when it rained the corrugated
tin roof made so much noise you couldnt hear
the passengers speak.
I worked on the Auckland waterfront for
approximately 18 months in the early 80s,
again, not good memories. It was a very tough
environment, but I managed to get my HT
licence in this time, so can drive a three-tonne rig and trailer.
Jan has contributed to Customs policies and proceedures on recruitment, sexual
harassment, equal employment issues and employee assistance referral work
assisting staff in times of crisis to get counselling support.
These were all areas that I was passionate about to try and effect positive change,
particularly for women in the organisation.
Jan was appointed to a team leader position in Trade Evaluations in November 2003,
and is currently a CCO in the Integrated Targeted Operations Centre at Auckland
Customhouse. I have a great team of people to work with. They really go the extra
distance. My overall enjoyment of the job is through the variety and chances to try
different things and, of course, the staff who are pretty amazing. At this point in my
career my goals are to develop staff to be the best they can be, and keep getting
great results. I am passionate about keeping drugs out of our communities.
QUIET TRAILBLAZER Marie Benge served Customs 1945 1985

Wellingtons Marie Benge joined Customs as a TV girl on
5 May 1945, with trade valuation, tariff and trade statistics
dominating her 40-year career. Unaware she was working on
a temporary contract, Marie was a quiet trailblazer for todays
female staff Marie was awarded equal pay and a permanent
role as a class six officer in 1949. Typically, the top wage for
women clerks remained two steps below their male colleagues.
Marie Benge wearing the frock she started work in under
her coat, Lambton Quay, 1945. Shirley Renai is on the right.
Circa 1945
Marie recalls the explosion of trade in the latter part of the 1940s,
and as Kiwi men returned to the workforce, Customs found they
needed their women clerks too.
Maries repeated attempts to move from trade into a port role
were unsuccessful. I dont think they considered us as serious
Customs officers. I remember being told you wouldnt be able
to dip a petrol tank. They used to climb

ladders and physically dip the tanks at
Seaview. I told them my brothers expect
me to get up and help them paint the roof
and they wouldnt say anything after that!
After 30 years service Marie made the grade
as Executive Officer todays rank of Chief
Customs Officer. Comptroller Jack Kean
Marie Benge. June 1991
wanted to tell me personally. Becoming the
first woman to be appointed was a great achievement. I felt like Id
finally arrived.
Until her retirement in 1985 Marie was CCO in charge of trade
relations with developing countries.
39
TANGATA WHENUA
AND NEW ZEALAND
CUSTOMS
40
1.
Early trade in Aotearoa goes as far back as the arrival of Captain Cook in 1769. Northland Mori were
entrepreneurs in economic markets, trading their kauri timber, pork, potatoes and flax with sawyers,
traders and missionaries. Well before George Cooper began collecting for the Crown, local Ngpuhi were
collecting landing duty, and by the early 1800s imports of an assortment of goods had begun in earnest.
Relationships between NZ Customs and tangata whenua

have evolved to todays robust relationship with many iwi
throughout Aotearoa. We have established a Memorandum
of Understanding with Muriwhenua Incorporation, which
comprises six iwi within the far north region. In addition
three other Northland iwi have recently formed a relationship
with Customs.
Customs Mori Responsiveness Strategy keeps up-to-speed

with the rapid expansion of the Mori business economy.
The Mori economy is worth almost $40 billion, a high
proportion of which is business exports. Businesses such
as Miraka, Aotearoa Seafoods, Tohu Wines, and Ngtahi
Horticulture, are very successful enterprises exporting to over
20 countries Middle East, Asia, the Pacific and Latin America.
First Mori collector of Customs
Image: The MOU allows Customs officers to access

Muriwhenua land to intercept any illegal craft and people
arriving there, and to undertake land and sea surveillance
operations within Muriwhenuas boundaries.
Kapa Haka & Mori Network
Operations Analyst Mike Dickey says

no doubt his great grandmother Raiha
Tiki Penaina (Ngati Mahanga, Tainui)
would have called her eldest son Wiremu.
Customs knew Mikes grandfather as
William Fairclough Dickey.
William started his 43-year career in Customs at Dunedin in
1872 as a Tide Waiter, then Lyttelton 1882 as a Landing Waiter,
Auckland 1885 as a Clerk (later Chief Clerk), and Whanganui
1907 as Collector of Customs. William ended his career as
Collector of Customs Napier, 1912 1915.
William was the first Collector of Customs of Mori descent
which would have pleased his father Adam James Dickey
(Na Tiki), retired Registrar of the Native Land Court.
Mike says his family didnt mention that William had worked
in Customs, and only found out after joining when his wife
Cynthia was compiling his whakapapa. When colleagues
shared documents from ports where William had worked,
Mike made the spooky discovery of finding his writing and
signature are almost identical with his grandfathers.
Like himself, Mike believes William would have been very
proud of his Mori whakapapa, and it is obvious from the
information collected about his career that not a lot stood
in the way of his progression through Customs ranks in
those early years.
William Fairclough Dickey, retired as Collector of Customs Napier, 1915.
2.
2015 marks the 25 year anniversary
of our kapa haka group and Mori
Network. The groups play an active and
important role in the social calendar
of NZ Customs. The groups have an
all-inclusive membership and today is
made up of diverse ethnicities including
Argentina, India, Sri Lanka, England
Croatia, Pacifica, Mori, Australia and
NZ European. Stirring performances are
given at an array of occasions including
powhiri (welcome) to Customs
international guests, medal ceremony
awards, Anzac services and Trainee
Customs officer graduations to name
just a few.
Early trade in Aotearoa

goes as far back as the
arrival of Captain Cook
in 1769.
3.
Images: 1. Senior Customs Officer Wayne Tapsell lays down
the wero to managers at a national hui in 2006. 2. The groups
provide respect and mana, while reinforcing Customs welcome
here, welcome home message. 3. National Hui attendees.
41
WEARING CUSTOMS
COLOURS WITH PRIDE
42
1.
2.
3.
Wharfies and the beige brigade

Gold bling loops, officer stripes, navy blazers and hats
dominated Customs look until the early 1980s. New work
at airports and chasing drug traffickers from the 1960s saw
clerical officers take on the winter uniform of waterfront teams.
In true 1970s style, a beige number (based on the US Navy

uniform) complemented by the naval hat was worn in summer.
The sunny north saw Tauranga and Auckland officers keep
their sporting shorts and walk socks, while Wellington and
southern ports wrapped up in the naval attire.
Image: 1. Customs Officer Brendan OCarroll, Ports of

Auckland, 1980s. 2. New Zealand Customs search. New
Zealand Freelance: Photographic prints and negatives.
3. Handler Roger Davis and Toi National Champions
Winners CC CAR Cup 1984 and 1985.
43
1.
44
2.
Leaving behind the rivalry of uniform
branch versus clerical branch all
Customs operational functions merged
to an all blue uniform from the early
1980s. A consistent approach for
uniform standards wasnt formally
introduced nationally until the early
21st century, and officers today are kept
under the watchful eye of the Uniform
Handbook.
Today, Customs officers wear a navy
tunic and trousers, with a light blue shirt
or blouse for public-facing services. As
part of the standards introduced in the
early 2000s, hard-wearing clothing for
cargo and inspection-related duties was
introduced. Wearing dress uniform,
used for formal occasions, evokes a keen
sense of pride for Customs officers.
Images 1. Passengers being checked by New Zealand Customs
officials, arrival of PAWA (Pan America World Airways) clipper
from America. Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs. Alexander
Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. 2. A representative
group of 17 Customs officers received medals from the Prime
Minister Rt. Hon. Helen Clark in 2008.
The Customs Medal

The inaugural presentation of Customs
Service Medals on Monday 5 May
2008 was a historic day for the New
Zealand Customs Service. The medal,
inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II recognises the commitment
of frontline officers to serving New
Zealand. Its introduction brought
Customs into line with other uniformed
services. It takes fourteen years of
dedicated service to receive the medal,
with a clasp awarded for every seven
years thereafter. Medal ceremonies in
2015 have seen a total of 480 officers
awarded the Customs Service Medal
in the past eight years.
The Customs Service Medal has the
Customs Badge on its reverse. The
ribbons colours reflect the authority
of the Customs gold insignia, the blue
of the sea that surrounds us and upon
which we operate, and the sky under
which we serve.
45
TOOLS OF
THE TRADE
THROUGH
THE YEARS
46
RODS AND PRODS

How we were: Customs dominant focus on revenue
collection for well over a century is reflected in its main tools
of the trade. Customs officers were masters of measurement,
calculating duty or tax using copper jugs, glass flasks, callipers,
weights and scales, steel tapes with brass bobs (for petrol),
dip-rods, hydrometers, thermometers, and saccharometers (for
alcohol). Staff were equipped and skilled to carry out tests
to calculate the correct revenue due with meticulous reference
to calibration charts and tables.
Excise equipment / Sikes hydrometer
Hydrometers determine the specific gravity of a liquid to
determine its composition or strength. The Sikes hydrometer
was, for very many years, the standard means of determining
the alcohol content of spirits and hence the duty payable.
Dipping rods and prods were useful for those willing to
play by the rules. At the other end of the scale, tobacco and
alcohol smuggling to evade duty was rife. Squads of Customs
specialists, ex-seamen and navy boys, rummaged schooners
and ships with their basic tools torches and ropes, mirrors on
long poles for hiding spots high above out of sight, and prods
to probe down barrels that often hid contraband below.
Image: 1. Customs officer Shaun Fleet from the Excise branch

checks imported spirits, the oldest and most consistent
task Customs has performed in its collection of due duty.
Guardians (Photo taken in 1978.)
1.
47
Evidence Capture
Powers-Samas Card Punch
Cameras remain a vital tool to capture evidence against criminals. Hugh Sherwood Cordery, Collector of
Customs at Invercargill from 1929-1935, would carry his heavy camera on dawn-to-dusk raids, photographing
the illicit stills during prohibition. He possibly pioneered aerial photographic evidence in New Zealand,
presenting his photographs during prosecution of the infamous Hokonui hooch makers.
Our first step toward automated data processing. From

the late 1940s import entries, country codes and tariff duty
were recorded on a variety of card sizes and formats. The
technology shaped our workforce from the early 1950s, with
teams of women staff employed as punch machinists.
Marchant Calculators
Customs officers used the Marchant to meticulously calculate tariffs and duty on imports and exports.
Female staff recorded the entries in large ledgers, and were known as book artists.
48
RAYS AND BEAMS

How we are: Evidential devices are now much lighter and
fit for 21st century capture. The evolution of this tool through
the years shows that Customs was always at the forefront
of change using innovation and technology to shape the
future. Customs officers are currently trialling a range of
mobile devices, including iPhones and iPads that give them
photographing, voice or video recording, researching and
communicating tools at their fingertips.
It was x-ray screening that really revolutionised Customs
interaction at the border Aviation Security commissioned
machines at Auckland Airport in the 1970s, and Ministry
for Primary Industries added several more in 1996, allowing
baggage checks to be carried out more quickly. Customs
continues this multi-agency approach with its airport
colleagues today.
The 9/11 attacks in 2001 beefed up requirements to counter
terrorism threats, and led to funding for cargo x-ray units.
Three mobile trucks were purchased in 2003/4 for screening
of sea containers, along with static units for air cargo

screening and several more for air cargo (backscatters)
and sea cargo. These x-rays are still in use, and just as
effective today.
As import tariffs dropped, and illicit drug trafficking rose,
Customs shifted to a hard line enforcement focus, and the
tools of the trade along with it. Measurement tools are no
longer used tests are sent to labs if needed. Youll still find
a torch and mirror in a modern-day rummage kit, but this
is supplemented with testing and communication devices.
Narcotic Identification Kits and street-lab drug testing
equipment are available on hand. The latest gadget at the
international mail centre, FirstDefender, shoots a laser beam
though the package, and can identify up to 11,000 substances
(legal and illicit) in seconds. Customs also hosts an onsite
screening laboratory in Auckland, speeding action against
drug importers, catching border trends quicker and clearing
legitimate goods easier.
3.
4.
2.
1.
5.
6.
Images: 1&3. The FirstDefender shoots a laser beam though

packages, and can identify up to 11,000 substances (legal
and illicit) in seconds. 2. X-ray screening revolutionised
border interactions from the 1970s. 4. Testing equipment at
the onsite screening laboratory in Auckland. 5. A telescopic
conveyor system commissioned in 2013 now minimises
manual labour goods from shipping containers are put on a
conveyor through x-ray, and are ready for re-load at the other
end. 6. Electronic surveillance was introduced at airports in
1988, allowing for early identification of low-risk passengers
and faster passenger processing.
49
OUR FRIENDS
IN THE PACIFIC
50
1.
How we were: At the end of the
19th century, Customs involvement with

its Pacific Island neighbours was limited
to intercepting tobacco and spirits
coming through Auckland, a key port
on the Pacific and coastal smuggling
circuits.
In later years, Customs was involved in
what a boarding inspector at Auckland
called the catch-as-catch-can contest
with US soldiers smuggling nylons,
cigarettes, and alcohol through the
Pacific Islands.
Customs Officer Frosty Thaw recalls
seeing the drug problem begin out of
Fiji in the 1970s, when a Kiwi criminal
picked up heroin smuggling tips in jail
from a Malayan prisoner, and realised he
could use the traditional Pacific routes
that developed after the war to move
contraband such as guns and tobacco.
Thaw said that ship girls were hooked
on heroin so that they would sell it
to feed their habit. One bulk trader
plying the route between New Zealand,
Australia and Fiji was known as the
Sin Bin because of the number of
criminals aboard.
2.
How we are: Today, the New Zealand Customs Service is
very closely entwined with its Pacific neighbours, working to

strengthen our collective borders as we share a mutual interest
in managing threats that impact the Pacific region. Our joint
focus is on collecting revenue, helping legitimate travellers
and cargo speed through borders, and on enforcement
activities to protect our respective communities.
Customs clears all private yachts entering and leaving
New Zealand each year, many of them going up to the islands
in May, and returning in September. We share intelligence
information and enforcement activity to prevent drug
smuggling through the islands.
3.
5.
Images: 1. Assistant Boarding Inspector Murray Robertson

processing a Boys Brigade group from Nauru Island on
arrival in New Zealand. 2. Trainee Fijian dog handlers
on their first course at Trentham, July 2015. 34. The tiny
nation state of East Timor became home to 17 Customs
officers in four teams from early 2000 until early 2002. 5.
Customs officers Michael, Jenny, Laura and Toma assisted
the Samoan government during the UN conference on Small
Islands Developing States (SIDS) in Apia 2014 (surnames
withheld).
In 2011, Customs signed a partnership arrangement with the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to deliver capability
building in the Pacific with our colleagues in the Cook Islands,
Fiji, and Samoa, as well as working with the Oceania Customs
Organisation and Pacific Islands Forum for broader impact in
the region.
Customs is delivering a major Pacific Leadership Programme
to assist nations to implement their modernisation
programmes. We have recently helped to develop human
resources capability, and assist with the implementation of new
legislation, and provide training to a large number of staff. We
are still working with Samoa Customs to cement the changes
brought about by new legislation.
The Cook Islands have halved the clearance times for trade by
adopting modern legislation, and border technology, as well
as speeding up passenger clearance and improving security
through automated passenger clearance processes. Training
in mobile x-ray screening has also been provided.
Fiji has started its first detector dog training programme with
the support of New Zealand Customs and Police. In early
September 2015 the first group of trained Fijian dog handlers
graduated to develop an effective detector dog capability to
enhance border and community protection in Fiji, New Zealand

and the Pacific region.
Customs also supported Samoa to host the 2014 Small Island
Developing States conference. Clearance for the deluge of
officials was partly managed onshore in New Zealand, and we
supported NZ Police with extra intelligence officers and advisers
in Apia to help manage passenger flow and detect risks.
Pride in East Timor

January 2015 saw the 15th
Anniversary of our support to the
UN mission to East Timor. The
deployment was a first in Customs
history, and marked the beginning
of a series of deployments of
operational staff to Timor over the next two-and-a-half years.
Auckland Airport Manager in 2000, Paul Campbell says the
mission drew officers from across New Zealand to establish
a new Customs service (with an airport and port) with no
facilities at all.
The task of deploying folk to a location that didnt appear
by name on any map, together with the fact that we knew
nothing about the operating environment, wasnt without its
challenges. We remain grateful for the active support that the
Defence Force provided.
Everyone that went learned and changed I learnt again,
that we have world leading people. NZ Customs was the first
Customs nation to arrive, and the last to leave. Our people built
infrastructure that endures, and taught proud colleagues how
to set up their Customs service. We saw how an entire nation of
people who had so little in terms of third world riches could teach
us so much about what being really rich was having life, family,
love and the hope of a better future together with unbridled
enthusiasm and pride in their brand new nation.
51
CUSTOMHOUSES
52
1.
CUSTOMHOUSES THROUGH THE AGES

By the early 20th century Customs buildings were a central part
of urban development. Customhouses were an indication of
active trade, and their significance is paved out in the Customs
Streets and Customhouse Quays present in towns and cities
across New Zealand.
The changing face of New Zealands Customhouses reflects

the changing nature of Customs border management. With
advances in electronic information systems, and increases in
international trade and air travel, Customs buildings are no
longer seen as a staging post for trade and travel.
Many Customhouses have been threatened with demolition, but

still stand today through community efforts to preserve these
relics of New Zealands administrative history.
Todays Customhouses feature state-of-the-art secure areas

and equipment. Many have flexible open-plan design,
and have been designed to reduce their impact on the
environment. A number have been repositioned close to
trade and air travel ports. Quality accommodation is shared
with colleagues from other border, intelligence and security
agencies to support collaboration and cost effective operation
and to make it easier for clients.
In the early 1970s, seventeen Customhouses were in operation

including Greymouth and Palmerston North, Wanganui, Rotorua
and Invercargill. Now most of New Zealands Customhouses
remain standing as a symbol of history, and are registered by
the New Zealand Historic Places Trust Pouhere Taonga.
2.
First Customhouse
Russell
In 1869 the Crown purchased part
of The Strand in Russell, to establish
New Zealands first purpose-built
Customhouse. Moving out of shared
premises with the local post office and
police station on Russells foreshore was
sure to be a welcome shift for officers
of the day.
4.
Designed by New Zealands first

and only Colonial Architect, William
Clayton, the final building, in the
Gothic Revival style, was intended
to project an image of respectability
and moral authority. Completed in
1870 the building served as a base for
government administration in Russell,
monitoring and taxing the movement
of goods through the port.
A huge Moreton Bay fig, planted in the
1870s by the local collector of customs
Edward Binney Laing, is listed as part
of the sites historical significance.
With the eventual drop-off in shipping,
the Russell Customhouse was no longer
required. The Police Department took
it over in 1894 as a Police Station and
residence, for which it still serves today.
3.
Images: 1. The Auckland Customhouse. 2. The Dunedin

Customhouse. Circa 1870. 3. The Hon. Nicky Wagner, Minister
of Customs with Customs officers at New Zealands first
Customhouse in Russell, Bay of Islands.
53
AUCKLAND Old Customhouse - 22 Customs Street West

Aucklands original Customhouse
reflects its status as the commercial
capital of New Zealand. The impressive
French Renaissance Customhouse was
built in the late 1880s to the design
of the well-known architect Thomas
Mahoney, part of Aucklands most
successful architectural practices,
Edward Mahoney and Sons.
The Customhouse opened in 1889 on
a site that had been reserved for that
purpose since the city of Auckland was
established in 1840.
It was constructed during the 1880s and
1890s as one of a group of buildings
developing Aucklands port including
the Auckland Harbour Board, shipping
and ferry companies, exporters and
importers.
The Customs Department occupied
the largest offices on the ground floor,
with the Native Land Court, Survey
Department, Audit Inspector, Sheep
Inspector, and Registrar of Births,

Deaths and Marriages their neighbours.
In 1909 a substantial addition was
built at the rear of the building,
providing another 60 rooms with office
accommodation for a host of other
government departments.
During the 1970s the building
was vacated and faced possible
demolition. A public campaign, Save
the Customhouse Committee, was
launched to save the building and it was
eventually restored.
In 2009 the Customhouse underwent
further refurbishment, carefully close
to original design, making it one
of Aucklands finest remaining late
Victorian buildings. The building is
registered by the New Zealand Historic
Places Trust as Category One and is
scheduled in the highest category in
the Auckland City District Plan.
Image: Customs Street West, Auckland. Auckland Star: Negatives. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
It has since served as a performing arts

and shopping centre. The suite of rooms
now serves as space for exhibition
and commercial outlets including
speciality duty-free retailers.
Over time the old Customhouse has

been redesigned to meet public needs
in a different fashion.
WELLINGTON
Wellingtons first Customhouse was
built in 1902. The landing of goods and
mail by sea meant that along with the
Post Office, Customs was the earliest
state agency present on Wellingtons
waterfront. Prior to 1902 it was housed in
a wooden structure near Queens Wharf
and in the new Chief Post Office (1884).
Image: Wellington Customhouse. Circa 1950s.
With its Romanesque arches and

cupola it was a prominent harbourside
landmark at the beginning of
Customhouse Quay.
This site was demolished in 1969 and
Customs moved to Whitmore Street
before transition to a purpose-built
building on Hinemoa Street in 2010.
The current Wellington Customhouse
provides efficient and well-equipped
state-of-the-art facilities, suiting
Customs centralised intelligence-led
mandate while remaining close to
Wellingtons harbour.
54
Image: The Customhouse, Wellington.
Image: Customs Department, Wellington. Birch, A E:

Scenic negatives and prints taken by Thomas Pringle.
Image: Customs office, Nelson. Jones, Frederick Nelson, 1881-1962 :Negatives

of the Nelson district. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
NAPIER
NELSON
After Napier was declared a customs

point of entry in 1855, a combined
Customhouse and post office was
erected on the corner of Milton and
Battery Roads.
Through the 1840s a regular traffic of sailing ships, both coastal and to and from
Britain passed through the narrow channel between the shore and the end of the
Boulder Bank.
The iron try-pot near the Customhouse is

typical of those used by whalers for trying
out (melting down) blubber. The resultant
oil was poured into casks while waste
from the cooking process was used to
stoke up the fire beneath the try-pot.
Napiers restored Customhouse in
Ahuriri still stands intact just off West
Images of Napiers Customhouse with cake and officers

in front - taken in 2015 as part of 175th celebrations.
The Nelson Customhouse was built in 1865, and in the early hours of 26 November
1903 was ravaged by fire. The new Customhouse has survived and currently serves
today as a beachside backpackers.
Quay. This site was used by Customs

as a Customhouse from 1895 until 1953,
when services moved into the city.
The Hawkes Bay Harbour Board
stepped in to prevent the demolition of
the historic building, and it now houses
several government departments.
HOKITIKA
TIMARU
The Customhouse at Hokitika is one

of the last remaining links to Hokitikas
heyday as a busy and prosperous port
during the West Coast gold rush in
the 1860s.
Customs duties have been collected in Timaru since 1861. The former Customs
House was opened in August 1902, and was vacated by the Customs Department
in the late 1970s.
In 1865 Hokitika became the official

port-of-entry of the West Coast as
well as the commercial centre of the
Image: Customs House, Timaru. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
Image: Customs House, Hokitika commons.wikimedia.org.
West Coast goldfields, and so the first

Hokitika Customhouse was built.
Threatened with demolition during
the 1980s, the building was eventually
preserved and moved onto a site across
the road by the river where it now stands
as a prominent landmark for use by
community groups.
55
PASSENGER
EXPERIENCE
56
1.
2.
3.
4.
How we were: In the late 1800s
through to the early 1900s immigration

restrictions were in place to make New
Zealand a Britain of the South.
The entry of Chinese, Indians, and other
so called race aliens was restricted and
by 1920, anyone not British or Irish had
to apply in writing for a permit to enter
the country. The Minister of Customs
had the discretion to determine whether
any applicant was deemed suitable.
Australians had unrestricted entry due
to a long-standing right, established
in 1840 when New Zealand became
a British colony like Australia.
No Chinese person was allowed
to disembark a ship until Customs
officers collected the Chinese poll tax.
Chinese leaving New Zealand had to
provide photographs and fingerprint
documentation to be allowed entry
back into the country.
Some immigrants would falsify
documents, especially place of origin,
because it might affect the duty they
would have to pay. There was a 50
percent ruling entry on dark skinned
people and legislation that restricted
criminals, imbeciles and other
undesirables.
From 1915-1920, Australians and New
Zealanders, as British subjects, were
subject to the passport and exit permit
system developed during World War I.
5.
Images: 1. Young Greek women arriving at Wellington Airport. Further negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
2. New Zealand. Department of Tourist and Health Resorts. [New Zealand. Department of Tourist and Health Resorts]: Haere mai (Welcome) to New Zealand. By authority
W A G Skinner, Government Printer, Wellington. [1920s]. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. 3. First Scottish Colony for NZ poster found on wikipedia.
org. 4. Chinese family in a greengrocers shop. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. 5. Passengers leaving the ship Monowai, Queens Wharf, Wellington.
Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
57
2.
3.
5.
This was abolished in 1920, when
all natural born British subjects
(including Mori, as honorary whites)
would be able to travel between
New Zealand and Australia without
travel documents.
The earliest record of international
tourists to New Zealand was in 1903
with 5,233 people reaching our shores
that year. International air travel started
in the 1940s, and by 1961 it dominated,
with nearly two-thirds of all arriving
and departing passengers travelling
by air.
Auckland Airport opened for business in
November 1965 with 27 Customs officers,
working three shifts of nine officers.
58
Previously international flights had

landed at Whenuapai, and early transTasman flights also went out from
Paraparaumu.
All passengers were processed manually
at airports. Only senior Customs officers
were authorised to carry out immigration
work and much of their time was spent
issuing visas to visitors because only
Australians could enter New Zealand
without a visa or passport.
Travellers often had a long wait, either
on the plane while Customs officers
rummaged (searched) the aircraft
or on the tarmac as they queued
(rain or shine) to enter the terminal
for processing.
1.
4.
6.
7.
The focus for airport officers in the

1970s and 1980s was revenue collection.
The first $25 worth of goods brought
into the country was duty-free. The
next $100 attracted a flat rate of tax of
25% (combined duty and sales tax) and
then normal rates applied. Officers had
to give the maximum benefit of this
concession putting the $25 and the
$100 against items with the highest
rates. These were the days before
pocket calculators, and officers who
werent good at maths could often get
into strife. Calculations used a mini
tariff that contained pages and lists of
consolidated rates of duty and sales tax.
Credit cards werent accepted, and
officers collected large amounts of
cash from arriving passengers, which

they often had to stuff into their
pockets on busy shifts. Each passenger
received a hand written receipt from
a duty receipt book.
At the end of their shift officers
reconciled the cash collected with the
passenger declaration cards, and they
were personally liable for any shortfall.
In the late 1980s, with around threeand-a half million travellers visiting
New Zealand each year, Customs
began to focus on streamlining
passenger movement. Electronic
surveillance was introduced at airports
in June 1988, which allowed early
identification of low-risk passengers
and speeded up passenger processing.
8.
How we are: New Zealands
busiest airport (Auckland) now has
around 220 officers who work in 13
teams 24/7.
Technology plays a key part in
Customs drive to deliver efficiency
and productivity in border processes,
and to improve the passenger
experience.
Last year, 10.4 million air passengers
crossed our border; and 96.4% were
processed within 45 minutes, which
is well above the global ICAO standard
of 90%.
risks are identified early through the

flow of quality information, and can be
appropriately managed. As part of this
approach, Customs is continuously
improving the passenger experience.
In 2015, Customs, Aviation Security
and Auckland Airport won an IPANZ
(Institute of Public Administration)
Excellence Award for Collective
Impact. The award recognised the
world-leading trial of a combined
Customs-Aviation Security departure
process at Auckland Airport, making
it easier and quicker for passengers to
pass through.
Customs annual passenger survey

(2015) consistently shows very high
levels of traveller satisfaction at 92
per cent.
SmartGate
Officers today play an important role in

welcoming New Zealanders home and
visitors here. Officers are intelligenceled to achieve high assurance, light
touch so that travellers that present
Passenger processing became

smoother and faster for New Zealand
and Australian ePassport holders
in 2009 with the introduction of
SmartGate at airports the same
A larger trial to validate the initial

findings is currently underway.
system introduced by Australia in 2007

creating a consistent trans-Tasman
passenger experience.
Passenger uptake has been very
positive - Customs target of processing
over 60,000 travellers per week through
SmartGate by 2015 was reached in late
2013 and over 14 million travellers have
used SmartGate.
SmartGate operates in arrivals and
departures at Auckland, Wellington,
and Christchurch. It allows Customs
officers to focus on more high risk
passengers.
Over the next 18 to 24 months

Customs will expand and modernise
automated border processing
technology. Twenty nine next
generation gates will be installed at
airports to cost effectively manage
growth in traveller volumes expected
to increase by 2.3 million by 2019. The
process is a faster, one-step process
that eliminates the need for a ticket.
The new eGates will use 3D technology
to enhance facial recognition, which will
increase accuracy.
Since its introduction SmartGate

eligibility has been extended
to younger travellers and other
nationalities, and will continue to be
opened up to more and more travellers
as this technology evolves.
Images: 1. Geoff Rollinson and Dave Huff conduct an aircraft cabin search with detector dog Zac.
2. Auckland, New Zealand - May 29, 2015: Air New Zealand passenger jet at Auckland Airport air
bridge preparing for departure. (Photo iStock and Air New Zealand.) 3. Kerry Anne Smith and
Tony Davis question a passenger at Auckland Airports search area. 4. Airport officer. 5. Aucklands
departure area in the 1990s. 6. Paul Campbell at the Passengers Baggage counter at Auckland
Customhouse. 7. Arrivals queue at Auckland Airport. 8. Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER taxiing
at Los Angeles International Airport. (Photo iStock and Air New Zealand.)
59
175
175 YEARS
PROTECTING
OUR BORDER
60

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175

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

My first role of warehouse keeper was completely old school, hand

TOOLS OF THE TRADE THROUGH THE YEARS

175th anniversary celebration

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

Hon Nicky Wagner

175th anniversary celebration

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

This magazine offers just a brief insight into decades

175th anniversary celebration

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

175th anniversary celebration

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

How we were: By 1914 New Zealands trade market was

worth $7 billion (in 2014 dollars) with trade of wool, frozen

How we are: Today New Zealand trades with nearly every

In 2013, China took 21%

Images: 1. Display of frozen export carcasses outside the

175th anniversary celebration

COLLECTING WHATS DUE

FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

Agreements. We take a lead role in negotiating Customs Procedures and Rules

Assurance may be required over the:

Secure Exports Scheme:

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

The tariff was used to protect local

The twentieth century saw more

Customs duty calculator, Whats

Today, most imported goods attract

175th anniversary celebration

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

The white man

175th anniversary celebration

Tobacco for Sheep

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

Heavy duties on imported spirits

Excise on alcohol has been levied since

New Zealand is now unique in our

and vineyards to understand the ins and

Image: 1. Customs officers in the bond room checking spirit

175th anniversary celebration

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

TIP OFFS AND BLACK BOOKS

In the 1930s Invercargill Collector of Customs Cordery became

175th anniversary celebration

The intelligence scene really started to develop in the 1970s

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

The Black Book was fed by CASPERs printouts of alerts, but

Cartoon above: From around the early 1980s Customs

Images: 1. The FirstDefender identifies drugs instantly

DEEP DATA DENIZENS

Customs and the Ministry of Primary Industries opened

175th anniversary celebration

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS SERVICE

Image: 1. The original Hawk was made with puriri frames

officials to pursue other smugglers. Customs had needed a

175th anniversary celebration

INTELLIGENCE AND PARTNERSHIPS

and 1986 respectively to continue the tradition of the original

National Maritime Co-ordination