PSA: Unnecessary Bureaucracy with Import Permits

Just had an email reminding me I need to inform the Police of a part I imported recently and risked a $400 if I don't tell them in time.

Email was to my work email account so was lucky I saw it in time.

Once you've imported an item you need to tell the Police what you imported and when (despite them already knowing all this information as its provided by customs, as they knew when the import permit had been actioned to send the me the email) within 30 days of importing the item. You risked a $400 fine if you don't do it in time.

All in the name of public safety I guess.....

This isn't something new, and it's pretty clearly stated on the very first page of the Permit Letter conditions you received when you got your permit.....? Regardless of if its necessary or not, it takes me all of 30secs to do via email too.

Notification of Importation
You are required by law pursuant to Regulation 13 of the Arms Regulations 1992 to notify Police of the importation in writing within 30 days of the items being landed in New Zealand...


FWIW - I've found the entire process of importation to be one the easiest things to do, and the police good to deal with. ~2weeks from applying for a permit to being granted. Zero hassle

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Originally Posted by seahunter

This isn't something new, and it's pretty clearly stated on the very first page of the Permit Letter conditions you received when you got your permit.....? Regardless of if its necessary or not, it takes me all of 30secs to do via email too.

Notification of Importation
You are required by law pursuant to Regulation 13 of the Arms Regulations 1992 to notify Police of the importation in writing within 30 days of the items being landed in New Zealand...


FWIW - I've found the entire process of importation to be one the easiest things to do, and the police good to deal with. ~2weeks from applying for a permit to being granted. Zero hassle

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Yep, this mirrors my experience. A little bit of time to complete details is the main task, but no drama really.
And, yes, the requirement to inform Police of the item importation within 30 days is quite clearly stated. When sending my advice in I always request, and receive, a personal acknowledgement rather than just the auto response, and I keep this filed, just for possible future reference. If I am challenged anywhere down the line re notifying imports I can prove I did my legal duty which they know about.

Well I'm buggered if it's that easy.
Did a permit a while back, took two Weekes back for a query, no mention of turning it down, sorted it out and sent it back.
That has now been close to a month
If it wasn't going to be approved they could have told me at the start

I guess it largely depends on which officer is assessing the permit request and how big their workload is.

I applied to import a rifle I was taking overseas latter this year it took over a month to receive the permit.

Approx time for another permit I applied for at the same time to import a new item was exactly the same, and my previous import for a rifle and barrels was approx two months as they questioned why I was importing the 5 barrels.

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Originally Posted by csmiffy

Well I'm buggered if it's that easy.
Did a permit a while back, took two Weekes back for a query, no mention of turning it down, sorted it out and sent it back.
That has now been close to a month
If it wasn't going to be approved they could have told me at the start

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Edit to this. Found a reply somehow that got missed by me when I queried them back on the 5th. It was being chucked up to her supervisor probably because there was a bunch of bits that qualified by saying they were a shit of a thing to get here and there was several of us involved to save on freight. It has to make sense surely as otherwise if we all just said feck it, there would be 5 permits.
Still to hear back

My permit took the best part of a month to get approved.
It was assessed within 2 days then took a further 20+ to get sign off by the supervisor.

I can't help but think Te Tari Pūreke is a euphemism for "more difficult than needs to be by design".

I appreciate my above scenario was my fault for not reading things correctly, and was a FYI for people like me that get busy and forget things. The last item I imported didn't need me to inform them I received it.

It was a complete fluke I checked my work email account to see the email reminder about needing to inform them of what I imported.

It was also me expressing my disdain for the entire thing as customs know what I imported (they sent me an email outlining exactly what I'd imported) so me having to tell the Police the same information is just a waste of time and the risk of a $400 fine for telling them something they already know (or should know) is stupid.

Maybe it's just my poor attitude and totally contempt for the Police, regardless someone might find the information helpful.

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Originally Posted by Beetroot

My permit took the best part of a month to get approved.
It was assessed within 2 days then took a further 20+ to get sign off by the supervisor.

I can't help but think Te Tari Pūreke is a euphemism for "more difficult than needs to be by design".

I appreciate my above scenario was my fault for not reading things correctly, and was a FYI for people like me that get busy and forget things. The last item I imported didn't need me to inform them I received it.

It was a complete fluke I checked my work email account to see the email reminder about needing to inform them of what I imported.

It was also me expressing my disdain for the entire thing as customs know what I imported (they sent me an email outlining exactly what I'd imported) so me having to tell the Police the same information is just a waste of time and the risk of a $400 fine for telling them something they already know (or should know) is stupid.

Maybe it's just my poor attitude and totally contempt for the Police, regardless someone might find the information helpful.

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You have always been supposed to inform them when it arrives but they didn't do anything if you didn't. I have several letters of receipt in a file that I handed to the local arms officer, some dating back 20+ years. That was for firearms/actions etc a lot of things back then didn't require an import permit not like now

My permit was quite quick to get approved, but the person that approved it typo'd my name in the email address which slowed things up (to be fair thats a pretty common thing for me so not really their fault as such).

After I got it, I never actually was able to import the part as it was in the covid shipping time and I physically couldn't get the thing out of where it was in the US and over this side. The selling company didn't want it picked up and carried out (I think that looks suss for their end, payment on a foreign CC and carried out - fair enough) but the lack of physical carrying options from the other side of their country stopped the sale cold. I haven't imported the bit so hopefully the permit just expired haha no notification required!

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Originally Posted by No.3

I haven't imported the bit so hopefully the permit just expired haha no notification required!

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I also got caught up in the covid shipping bollocks so couldnt import what i wanted to. I did get a reminder email from police just before it expired about notifying them regardless of whether I imported or not.

Now shipping us back on from the US I'm going through the process again of getting my permit sorted (before I have to pay for the privilege!).

No this is an old thread.
But can you guys apply for a permit go to another country buy or be given a gun by a family friend and physical bring it back on a plane?

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Originally Posted by Sideshow

No this is an old thread.
But can you guys apply for a permit go to another country buy or be given a gun by a family friend and physical bring it back on a plane?

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My understanding is yes, but you make sure you bring the permit with you and present it all at customs when coming back.

Yeah i wondered this. Why cant customs tell the police when they are eyeballing your import???? The double handling of information is so inefficient.
As far as i can see its all just pushback from public servants. They don't want to be doing the job because there's a lot of it.

We have computers.... here's an idea. Lets bloody use them for a change rather than do the old paper system time and time again.

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Originally Posted by Sideshow

No this is an old thread.
But can you guys apply for a permit go to another country buy or be given a gun by a family friend and physical bring it back on a plane?

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Yes you can do that on the NZ side but it will depend what the rules are in the country you are taking it out of.

I wanted to do just that in the UK, the gun store I was buying from said they can sell the rifle to a UK FAC holder who can then on sell/give to me, but they aren't able to sell to me directly.

Before the laws all went Pete Tong. I sold my rifles back to my Dad and brother in NZ. They signed over on the UK FAL. Police here never even raised an eyebrow at it.

Just to extend a bit on that subject . Why having to apply for an import permit when you go abroad for hunting or shooting with your guns and you re enter with your own guns on the way back is the biggest useless bureaucracy procedure ever . I don’t know if any other country doing it like that . And with the register now in place that should be waved out all together for those that have registered.

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Originally Posted by Friwi

Just to extend a bit on that subject . Why having to apply for an import permit when you go abroad for hunting or shooting with your guns and you re enter with your own guns on the way back is the biggest useless bureaucracy procedure ever . I don’t know if any other country doing it like that . And with the register now in place that should be waved out all together for those that have registered.

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Every country with a registry you have to sign them out and in again that I know of.

Otherwise the government looses control over them,that's what this is really all about.

I took a gun back to NZ in the old days,decided I would leave it there. Told the Norwegian police who freaked out and it took two years to get it off my licence because they couldn't decide what proof they needed to show it was in NZ.

Ridiculous really for a lump of metal, plastic and wood. The paperwork cost over the lifespan of the item far outstrips the $ value in the item itself...

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Originally Posted by Friwi

Just to extend a bit on that subject . Why having to apply for an import permit when you go abroad for hunting or shooting with your guns and you re enter with your own guns on the way back is the biggest useless bureaucracy procedure ever . I don’t know if any other country doing it like that . And with the register now in place that should be waved out all together for those that have registered.

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In one sense it gives you some protection. If you exit NZ witha firearm, then later return with that firearm there is no way of knowing whether you didn't just obtain / buy that firearm while overseas before bringing it back to NZ. Of course on arrival here you would rightly say it's yours and you temporarily took it overseas and are now bringing it back. But if NZ Customs did't find that believable they could well calculate a value and present you with an invoice for GST. The Import Permit proves that the firearm you re enter NZ with is the same firearm you departed with.
There are other countries that operate similar systems for similar reasons.

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Originally Posted by No.3

Ridiculous really for a lump of metal, plastic and wood. The paperwork cost over the lifespan of the item far outstrips the $ value in the item itself...

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Oh, dear me.
When will people realise that, in the eyes of police and politicians (well, some of them) that this has got nothing to do with the amount of bureaucracy or its incipient paperwork.
It's about CONTROL.

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Originally Posted by no1_49er

Oh, dear me.
When will people realise that, in the eyes of police and politicians (well, some of them) that this has got nothing to do with the amount of bureaucracy or its incipient paperwork.
It's about CONTROL.

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It isn't really - you can't control anything when you can't get your own crap sorted first.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but someone might know the answer to this.
After a 6 week wait the powers that be have agreed that I may import a trigger for my rifle.
I was sent a copy of the permit for the overseas seller and a copy for NZ Customs. I am struggling to find information on what I'm supposed to do with the customs part. Do I have to go present the permit in person? Or just ignore customs and deal with it if they don't clear the parcel?

@Fatberg,
Based on my experience you may not need to do anything with the Customs copy.
Obviously, copy your Permit to your supplier and insist they put a copy inside the package with your trigger. Upon arrival in NZ, if Customs bother to inspect, the copy contained in the package will likely suffice and the trigger should be sent on to you. An item exceeding NZD $1000.00 may attract a GST invoice to be paid befor goods release and you may be asked to supply a copy of your Import Permit with the payment ( I have been asked ). If you personally collect the item from the likes of NZ Post they may want to see your Import Permit ( think I was asked once ).
Several times I have had low value parcels arrive containing a copy of my Import Permit and goods came through without any request to see anything else.
I think the important thing is insisting your supplier puts a copy in the package. If NZ Customs inspected and found no Permit for item/s that should have one I imagine it gets handed to NZ Police and a lengthy delay follows before it's all sorted.

Where the Customs copy probably come into play is the situation where you take your own firearm temporarily from NZ for an overseas trip and return later with the same firearm. The exact same Import Permit is issued for this scenario. Upon return to NZ the Police inspect the rifle and( mostly ) make a copy of the Import Permit. Then often they walk you over to the NZ Customs counter, confirm to Customs they have inspected and Customs then retains the Customs copy of the Permit.

An important thing to remember is when your item has arrived within 30 days you need to inform either FSA or NZ Police ( can't remember which ) that you have received the item relating to the Permit. I once had an Import Permit for a rifle for an overseas hunt that was postponed due to Covid. The Import Permit lapsed and I forgot about it. NZ Police phoned asking what happened ad I was asked to email with my reason for the lapse. So, they do follow up. Good lesson.

When you leave the country for your hunt or your sport shooting competition, you are supposed a few days in advance to notify the ministry of foreign affairs (export control) who issues a temporary export permit for the firearms you are taking with you.(many do not do it, but it is supposed to be a requirement by law…I think)
In an ideal world, more simple with bureaucracy:
All it would require, is to show that same paperwork on your way back. That is it. No requirement for any import permits , lengthy wait times ( up to 2 months wait for an import permit now!). You could notify police that you are back in Nz with you firearms and that would be it.

But we are still far from that.

@30.06king thanks for the info. It seems the package passed customs without getting held up.