Customs procedures
Sir,—Last month I returned to New Zealand from Australia and was held up for well over an hour while a Customs officer looked through my suitcase thoroughly. I considered that this was fair enough since the Customs people have their job to do, but I do object to the officer reading every letter that had been sent to me from
friends in New Zealand, during my stay in Australia. Do the Customs people have the right to read personal correspondence without reasonable cause? — Yours etc., JOANNA BURNETT. June 17, 1983. [Mr B. J. Kearns, Collector of Customs, Christchurch, replies: “Section 203 of the Customs Act, 1966, provides for the examination of the personal effects of passengers arriving in New Zealand. A thorough examination of a passenger’s effects would involve the perusal of any correspondence contained in those effects. Such examinations may be undertaken for a variety of reasons and "reasonable cause” is not a prerequisite. In fact, some examinations conducted are carried out on a random basis. Your correspondent is assured that the scan of personal documents which may be undertaken as part of the examination of effects has only those objectives which the Customs Department is charged with achieving, eg. detection of prohibited imports, revenue protection.”]
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Press, 29 June 1983, Page 12
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209Customs procedures Press, 29 June 1983, Page 12
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