Importing Forest & Wood Products
These requirements only apply to wood products which are non-propagable.
Non-propagable wood products are imported into New Zealand for a range of purposes; most often as packaging material, for use in building, or for decorative and household purposes.
The import of non-propagable wood products is covered by various import health standards, each covering many different products. These standards are outlined below, and include examples of the types of wood products covered by the import health standard.
For information regarding the import requirements for propagable forestry plant material refer to:
Import Health Standard
Examples: Non-propagable stems (without leaves or roots) from the bamboo and rattan families, reed, cane and willow "withies"
Examples: Bark, bark chips, cork, and items containing unprocessed bark
Examples: Poles, piles, rounds or sleepers more than 300mm thick
Examples: Sawdust, wood chips, wood shavings or wood wool (including wood sawn, chipped, shaved or peeled to form wood pieces either no larger than 15mm long by 10mm in cross-section or no greater than 1mm in cross-section if longer than 15mm long)
Examples: Sawn wood up to 300mm thick (any width), including timber, lumber, half rounds, mouldings, doweling, and laminated beams
Examples: Plywood, particleboard, oriented strand board, fibreboard, veneer, and chip board
Examples: Wooden barrels, Wooden artworks, furniture-containing wood, redwood burls, furnishings containing wood, household goods containing wood and utensils manufactured from wood
Examples: Wood packaging material such as dunnage, crates, fillets, spacers, pallets, drums, reels, and gluts. This is aligned with the international ISPM 15 standard
Import Permit
For non-propagable wood products that require a permit to import, please complete the form, Application for Permit to Import Non-Propagable Forestry Products.
The completed form should be returned to Plant Imports, where requirements will be checked before an import permit is issued. Allow 10 working days for processing.
- Plant Imports Team
Border Standards Directorate
MAF Biosecurity New Zealand
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
P.O. Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND - Fax: +64 4 894 0662
E-mail: plantimports@maf.govt.nz
NOTE: Many non-propagable forest and wood products do not require a Permit to Import. Please check the relevant import health standard to see if a Permit to Import is required.
CITES
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES 
)
regulates the international trade and movement of animals and plant
species that have been, or may be, threatened due to excessive
commercial exploitation. For more information on species covered under
CITES, please refer to the CITES website.
In genereal, the importation of endangered species into New Zealand is regulated under this Convention and must be accompanied by a valid CITES export permit issued by the appropriate management authority in the country of export. The Departement of Conservation is responsible for managing CITES species in New Zealand, including providing information on how to obtain CITES permits.
High Profile Pests
More information on high profile pests of nursery stock can be found at the links below.
Page last updated: 30 September 2009