How To Find Your NZ Tariff Or HS Code
Every good imported into New Zealand has to be classified in the Tariff of New Zealand. That classification is what sets the tariff duty. A supplier code from another country is a starting hint, not the New Zealand line.
The Working Tariff Document, effective 1 April 2026, builds the code in layers. A heading is 4 digits. A subheading is 6 digits. A New Zealand tariff item is 8 digits. Under that item, the statistical key is 2 numeric digits and one alphabetical digit.
How many digits do you need?
| Level in the Working Tariff Document | What the introduction says |
|---|---|
| Section and chapter | The Harmonised System is arranged in 21 sections and 98 chapters. Section and chapter titles help you find the range. They do not finish the classification. |
| Heading | 4 digits, printed in bold. Decide the heading first, using the terms of the heading and the legal notes. |
| Subheading | 6 digits. This is the shared Harmonised System piece. NZ Post says these 6 digits are the same universally. |
| Tariff item | 8 digits. This is the New Zealand tariff item used for duty. |
| Statistical key | 2 numeric digits and one alphabetical digit, with the descriptions beside them. Ascertain this after the item. |
The legal basis named in that introduction is the Tariff Act 1988, consolidated with the Customs and Excise Act 2018. Clearance reading for the rest of the border sits on import duty and customs. Once you have a rate, you can type it into the import duty calculator. The calculator does not look the code up for you.
Where do you search?
New Zealand Customs Service points to BorderWise as the digital search for the core Working Tariff Document. The same Customs page also publishes the document as chapter files, including the tariff index, Part II concessions, and the list of prohibited or restricted imports. Those chapter files are the legal document. Broker data files on the tariff classifications page are updated every 24 hours for Customs software. Customs says they are not designed for the general public.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Tariff Finder is a different tool. It helps exporters and importers compare tariffs in more than 110 markets and see free trade agreement rates, rules of origin, and documents. It presents free trade agreements and most World Trade Organization members in the Harmonised System 2022. You can search by product description, an HS code, or a keyword, and you choose exporting or importing and a market. The Ministry accepts no liability for reliance on those schedules. A result in French or Spanish can appear for a market that is not a free trade partner, because that is the language of that country’s most favoured nation schedule.
Use Tariff Finder when you need the shared 6 digit code or a free trade comparison. Use BorderWise and the Working Tariff Document when you need the 8 digit New Zealand tariff item and the duty column on an import into New Zealand.
What order do you classify in?
The Working Tariff Document introduction sets the order. First pick the heading, the bold text, using rules 1 to 4. Rule 1 starts with the terms of likely headings and the legal notes at section or chapter level. The tariff index or the list of section and chapter titles helps you find that range. If the goods match a heading and no note says otherwise, that heading is the one. Only if they cannot be classified that way do you use rules 2 to 4, and rule 3 is used in the order it is written.
Then, inside that heading, use the same rules again under rule 6 to pick the subheading or tariff item at the same level of indentation. Then ascertain the statistical key, again using rule 6. Explanatory notes and tariff notes are the official view of how the tariff is to be read. They are not themselves part of the tariff.
In the duty columns, the percent sign is omitted. A bare number means an ad valorem duty at that percentage of the Customs value. The introduction’s example: 5 means duty at 5% of the Customs value. The normal tariff column applies unless the goods are entitled to a preferential rate. Preferential rates are prefixed with a country or agreement abbreviation, and a date inside a listing means the rate applies from the first day of that month.
Customs says most goods in the Tariff are duty free, and GST can still be payable. A 5% duty and a 10% duty apply to some goods. Duty free is not the same as no GST. The GST side of an import is on GST on imports NZ.
What if two headings look possible?
The Customs and Excise Act 2018 puts the onus on the importer, or their agent, to enter the goods correctly. If there is doubt, ask the nearest Customs office. A formal classification ruling is form C7, Application for a Customs ruling (classification or duty concession), from the apply for a ruling page.
Apply before you import. A ruling after the goods are imported needs permission from the Customs chief executive first. The application must be in the name of the person importing the items, not a broker, consultant, or other organisation. Support it with the nature, composition, and use of the goods. The Working Tariff Document introduction says a sample helps. If the facts of a ruling change, you must apply for a new one.
Other than valuation rulings, Customs charges $40.88 per item, per ruling. A classification ruling is in the “other rulings” group: you generally receive it within 40 days of giving Customs all the necessary information. Country of origin and valuation rulings are generally 150 days. If you disagree, including a decision not to make a ruling or to amend one, you can appeal to the Customs Appeal Authority. The office email on that page is voc@customs.govt.nz.
A 6 digit code from a marketplace, or a 10 digit code from another customs union, is not automatically your New Zealand tariff item. Digits after the shared 6 can differ by country. Ireland, for parcels NZ Post sends, wants a 10 digit TARIC code, and NZ Post says you cannot find TARIC codes on the New Zealand Tariff Finder.
Sending a parcel is a shorter code
NZ Post’s electronic advance data page is about parcels leaving New Zealand, not about lodging a New Zealand import entry. For most countries it recommends at least the 6 digit tariff code on commercial items. For European destinations in Import Control System 2, a 6 digit code is required, and Ireland requires the 10 digit TARIC code. NZ Post tells you to find the 6 digit code on Tariff Finder, then use the European Commission site for TARIC.
Describe the goods in plain English and name the material. NZ Post’s acceptable examples include men’s cotton shirts and woollen jersey for men. Clothing, apparel, gifts, and parts are on its unacceptable list. The sender is responsible for true information. If a code is missing on a parcel to the European Union, NZ Post may assign one from your description and accepts no liability if the parcel is returned.
A free trade agreement can lower the rate below the normal tariff if the goods meet the origin rules. A tariff concession can also remove duty where no suitable alternative is produced in New Zealand. Both still start from the correct classification. Preferential tariffs and concessions are separate Customs pages from the code lookup.
Christchurch sole trader, one product line
Labelled example. A Christchurch importer brings in cotton shirts and has a supplier spreadsheet that shows a foreign code. Action: search the goods description in BorderWise, read the section and chapter notes, and take the 8 digit New Zealand tariff item plus the statistical key. Do not paste the supplier code onto the import entry. If two headings still fit, lodge form C7 in the importer’s name before the shipment, with composition and use, and pay the $40.88 classification fee.
What people mix up
NZ Post’s own questions page is the practical thread: people ask what happens if the HS tariff code is left blank, and what description is good enough. The answer there is that a vague description can delay or return the parcel, and a code NZ Post fills in is not a warranty. Quora and Medium did not return a New Zealand tariff classification thread this run. A freight guide that calls the code an HTS code is using a United States label. New Zealand Customs calls it the Tariff, a tariff item, and the Harmonised System.
The Working Tariff Document on the Customs website notes updates effective 1 July 2026, including the Excise and Excise equivalent Duties Table (Alcoholic Beverages Indexation) Amendment Order 2026, made on 3 June 2026. Check the current valid pages before you rely on an old download. The introduction used here is the edition effective 1 April 2026.