Customs!

[muddy]

Hi,

My girlfriend is freaking out about customs, she wants to know will they go through all of her stuff when we arrive? She's got this thing about privacy and hates airport security etc when they empty most of your belongings out in front of everyone. Please give me some advice so I can stop her worrying. Would appreciate it!!

Thanks....

Hi,

Can I honestly say airport security wont do that? No, I can't. Customs in New Zealand scan your baggage on arrival, and will only search you if something is distorting the scan, or gets highlighted as suspect. Sometimes there is also a MAF dog on duty who will have a quick sniff at your bag for drugs or food. As long as you dont have anything like that in there, you'll be fine.

Depending on which way you go otherwise, and with which airline, as to what practises the airport use.

The best tip I can give anyone, as it is only hand baggage that will be searched after checking in until you get to NZ, restrict your hand luggage to the bare minimum and dont carry any food. That way, if you do get stopped for a search, there is nothing for them to see so it'll be a quick pat down and on your way. Your suitcases will be taken off you to begin with and given back to you when you arrive in NZ, so as long as there is no food or drugs in there, suitcases wont be searched in front of anyone!

[Glenda]

Hi,

We were a bit worried about that too. What we did was put items and clothing in various different bags before packing into the suitcase. When we ran out of bags, holdalls, backpacks etc. we used plastic carrier bags.

In the event, they just scanned everything as Taffy said, but in our case opened a couple of cases to check the footwear and declared foodstuffs.

BTW if flying via the USA, they want unlocked luggage.

::):

Don't hide drugs in your underwear :)

Considering the amount of people and fuss around customs I really doubt your girlfriend is in danger of everyone going "Ohhh she has red undies!".

It is a bit daft I know, but just one of those things that come up so I thought I'd enquire, what are they like with vitamins and things like that? Do they have to be declared?

They dont mind vitamins, but as a rule, if you are unsure about anything, just declare it! In fact its usually faster to go through the declaration lane than the nothing to declare lane!!

Coming from NZ shortly after the World Trade Center attacks, we had an inspection as we waited to check our bags. The ANZ gentlemen politely asked us if we would care to participate in a random inspection. He guided us to a private area, quickly & respectfully checked through our bags, chatted with us and sent us on our way. Our bags received an "inspected" sticker of some sort, so we didn't have to worry about them being riffled through later behind the scenes.

When we've gone through customs, we declare anything we have that the form asks about. We've never had to surrender food items. We've had a bit of produce, prescription drugs, herbal remedies, etc. And yes, we zip on through the declaration lane.

The only time we've had our carry-on inspected was when we were carrying a bag of fossils - suspicious-looking in the X-ray machine!