How to ship a package from Canada to New Zealand

How to ship a package from Canada to New Zealand.

So isolated and faraway, how does one arrange to ship a package from Canada to New Zealand? Fortunately, the task is simpler than you may realise. New Zealand is a modern and industrial country with strong trade ties with Canada. So, shipping there is much like sending a parcel to the USA. You need to pack the goods so they arrive undamaged, choose a carrier that suits your budget, complete paperwork, and deal with duties and taxes. And to help you do that, we introduce Secureship, an online Canadian shipping broker with an intuitive platform that will save you a lot of time, heaps of money, and offers you a ton of shipping information.

Table of Contents

• Packing Goods Securely
• Choosing a Carrier
• Commercial Invoice and Other Paperwork
• Duties and Taxes
• Conclusion

Packing Goods Securely

A parcel’s journey could be a turbulent affair – boxes may be dropped, crushed, or otherwise manhandled. So, to ensure the contents arrive in New Zealand undamaged, we recommend the following practices:

• Use a new, unused box (a single trip may reduce a box’s rated strength by 50%)
• Wrap fragile items individually with packing peanuts or in bubble wrap
• Place items a minimum of five centimetres from each other and the same distance from all six sides of the box
• Seal the box with certified packing tape – masking or duct tape are unsuitable as are string and rope

The aforementioned points are particularly important if you have taken out parcel insurance. And if you have not followed the packaging standards of the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), parcel insurance may be null and void. Also be aware that not all items are insurable, notably jewellery, breakables, perishables, and hazardous materials.

Choosing a Carrier

With so many carriers criss-crossing the globe, who has the time to find the best option that suits the shipment’s time constraints and your budget? That’s Secureship’s expertise. So, before you ship a parcel from Canada to New Zealand, take a few minutes to give its website a few details – destination, weight and size of parcel, and it will find about eight different options of delivery time and cost with a price comparison to show you how much Secureship saves you from the retail price. Once you make a selection, it takes but little more time to finish the paperwork and arrange for parcel pick-up.

Commercial Invoice and Other Paperwork

International shipping involves paperwork, which Secureship’s system helps you complete.

Some of the main pieces of paper that may be required for international shipments include:

1. Commercial Invoice (CI): The CI allows your goods entry into a foreign country and enables customs officials to correctly assess the duties and taxes owed. Like a passport – no CI, your goods are turned away at the border.
2. Certificate of Origin (COO): The COO is important when a trade agreement exists between Canada and another country. It proves the goods were made or processed in Canada, which may allow for a reduced tariff.
3. Personal Effects Form: This form is required when moving to another country with your belongings, and will be checked by customs to ensure what you have shipped is a reasonable amount of goods for your household.
4. ATA Carnet: An ATA Carnet allows temporary imports – goods aimed for conventions, exhibitions, artistic performances – a duty-free entry to a country provided they leave within a prescribed time period.
5. Export Declarations (B13a, SED, TSCA): These forms are used when exporting controlled, regulated, or toxic goods.

Details of these forms and others can be found on Secureship’s website in the Support drop-down menu as part of the Learning Centre.

Duties and Taxes

While these fees typically are incurred by the recipient, they nevertheless have an impact on the sender.

Most duties on goods shipped from Canada to New Zealand fall in the 0 – 5% range; however, that is not so for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, which attract much higher values. And like Canada, New Zealand levies GST on incoming goods. If the value of a shipment is less than $400 NZD (about $330 CAD), it will be exempt from taxation. Otherwise a 15% levy will be applied to the goods.

Conclusion

While New Zealand is very far from Canada, and little known to many Canadians, shipping a parcel there follows the same guidelines as sending goods anywhere else. You need to pack items in a new box and wrap them to ensure they are not damaged in transit. A carrier within your budget and delivery timelines then needs to be found, which Secureship makes quick and painless while saving you money – up to 50% of your shipping costs. In addition to all of that, Secureship’s website offers shipping information on a wide range of topics – country-specific guides, a help centre with a Guru bot, a learning centre, and numerous blogs that answer a variety of questions.