This information may change. Always check the official source.Last verified: August 2026 by Ondřej Kadlec
Bringing things into New Zealand
Leave at home
Fresh food, seeds and plant material
Hiking boots with soil on them
Duty-free allowance
50 cigarettes
3.375 L of spirits, 4.5 L of wine
NZD 700 of other goods
Cash to declare
NZD 10,000 or more
The threshold covers cash and equivalents carried by one traveller. Not declaring it is what causes the money to be seized, not the amount itself.
The spirits allowance is three bottles of up to 1,125 ml each, and the 4.5 litres covers wine or beer between them. Biosecurity is the real check: it is enforced with dogs, X-ray and an on-the-spot NZD 400 fine, so declare food, camping gear and anything that has been on a farm, and clean your boots before you pack them.
New Zealand's biosecurity is enforced with dogs, X-rays and instant fines, and the hiking boots in your bag are what they want to see.
Clean your boots before you pack them. Soil on footwear or camping gear is the classic seizure, and declaring it means an inspection and a wash rather than a fine.
Declare all food, plants and animal products. The instant fine for an undeclared item is NZD 400, issued at the belt, with prosecution available for anything worse.
The tobacco allowance is 50 cigarettes and alcohol is 3 bottles of spirits plus 4.5 litres of wine or beer per adult.
Other goods are capped at NZD 700, and GST is charged on the total if you go over.
NZD 10,000 or more in cash must be declared, in any currency.
Everything is X-rayed after baggage claim, so there is no green channel in the European sense - the queue is the inspection.
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