Australia has a free Trade Agreement with New Zealand, and, for the most part in regards to trade, New Zealand is treated as if it was a state of Australia. Anything of Australian origin is allowed to be exported to New Zealand duty free. There are a few
items that are not covered by this agreement; notably some agricultural commodities.
But, almost all manufactured articles can be exported to New Zealand duty free.
New Zealand, like Australia, has strict quarantine rules and laws. The New Zealand version of AQIS is called MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries), formerly MAF(Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing), and all cargo must comply with all MPI requirements.
Failure to comply with any MPI requirements may result in fines and cargo return at the shipper’s expense.
Auckland is located on the north island, and is the main gateway into the New Zealand, however there are direct flights to several other cities. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and is also on the north island. Christchurch is the largest city in the south island. These and other cities are serviced for FCL (full container load) cargoes. Generally there are weekly LCL (less than a container load) consolidation services to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch from Sydney and Melbourne, or onforwarding from Auckland from other main Australian ports.
There are numerous daily flights from Australia to New Zealand destinations – mostly dedicated to fixed return services, but there are a lot of flights that call in Australia and then New Zealand on their way from or to other countries. This has led to relatively cheap fares and cargo rates between Australia and New Zealand.
The commonality of language and lifestyle, plus the short distance and our Close Economic Relations makes New Zealand a relatively easy country to export to. However, if you are not a regular established exporter to New Zealand, then you
should thoroughly check all requirements before proceeding.
