The law of the customs administration in New Zealand

Abstract

The theme of this thesis is related to the law of Customs in New Zealand. The Customs Administration is one of the oldest departments in the country, dated back to the colonial days. This arm of the administration has assumed an increasingly important role in the country which depends so much on international trade. Yet it is surprising, that how little has been written on the law of Customs in New Zealand. The uncertainty and competition of trade in the international scene require a sophisticated Customs Administration to protect New Zealand's national trade interest. In the part decade, the drug importation into New Zealand has alarmed the public. Therefore wide powers have been conferred by the Customs Acts onto the Customs Administration. These powers may be classified into three categories, namely, powers realted to policy formulation, the application of the policy and powers related to the Customs routine operation. An analysis of these powers and procedure constitutes Chapter Two, Three and Four of this thesis. The powers related to policy are usually exercised by the Governor-General, the Minister and the Comptroller. These powers are related to import and export control. The application of policy is normally carried out by the Collector and the Customs Officers. The application of policy includes fixing of duty and licensing. The routine Customs operations are carried out by the Customs Officers. Such operations cover all aspects of Customs work including arrival and departure of ships, rummage, drugs control, questioning and searching of suspects, prosecution and forfeiture. Since unrestrained powers are not acceptable in the New Zealand society, there are various mechanisms operating to control these powers. Judicial control is unsatisfactory as will be discussed in Chapter 5.1. The Ombudsman is able to make recommendations to remedy maladministration, however, they are only persuasive. In future, there is definitely a need for a Customs Tribunal supervising the Customs disputes including Customs duty, sales tax, dispute of forfeiture and so on. With the increasing deficit of balance of payment and the popularity of indirect taxation, the Customs Administration is likely to be expanding in future, and become a potent instrument of Government fiscal policy. It is acknowledged that the manual of the Customs Department has been used in this thesis, in particular Chapter 4.