Depending on your circumstances it can be difficult to have your vehicle cleaned for shipping to New Zealand. On this page we detail the tips and tricks to be able to give your vehicle the best chance of passing through New Zealand’s strict Bio-Security laws.
The Shipping line has a cleanliness standard and if your vehicle is in bad condition upon inspection at the port of origin it maybe rejected for shipping also even if accepted for shipping usually if its just visually clean from the outside it may arrive and be rejected from entry to NZ via the government agency tasked with determining bio-security threats to NZ call MPI (The ministry for Primary Industries. Never fear in this page we detail all the tips and tricks we have learnt over many years of shipping cars that should give you the best chance of getting your vehicle passed through these border exams with no treatments required.
Machinery is generally a red flag for bio-security and large machinery needs to have a cleaning certificate from the exporter before it departs the country of origin even to the point of removing panels to access areas where dirt might be hiding.
Personal effects such as just about anything that is used outside will also be a red flag to MPI for biosecurity and when shipping any such items as part of your household effects you should spotlessly wash and decontaminate them prior to shipping to avoid expensive treatments at this end.
Products made from animals or parts of animals also will attract the attention and additional expense of MPI biosecurity requirements so always make sure you talk to us about anything you think might be a problem as its likely it might be a problem, the Rocket Freight team is happy to advise you and in most cases answer your questions straight away or point you in the right direction for answers which saves you money and time in the long run.
People moving to NZ have the best chance to be able to pass the border exams and ensure no further costs are added to the shipping price for expensive quarantine treatments on arrival. Check your car before tendering it to us for shipping, ensure you Vacuum the inside of the car and be sure not to forget under the seats in the gloved boxes and to open up the boot and vacuum in there paying special attention to the spare tyre and tools part generally dirt accumulates in these hidden boot areas over the years and many a car fail the checks on this area. Also pop the hood open check the engine area look for leaves in the grill and bugs in the radiator often things fall into these areas over time and checking this before you go can save a financial sting on arrival in NZ. Also when cleaning the outside the final tip is Bio-security issues are generally found underneath your vehicle so if you have access to wash the underside then you should as 65% of all our failed results are due to customers not cleaning the underside at the very least to give it a good chance of passing you should waterblast up under the wheel arches and as far as you can get under with the pressure washer wand, washworlds normally have great tools for getting under cars with pressure washers on long poles.
Bugs, Insects, Spiders etc these are all nasties and considered a potential threat on arrival in NZ so we need importers to do there best to mitigate these potential threats before shipping by exterminating then always check your wing windows where spiders love to live and spray out the vehicle or bomb them before shipping a $10.00 super market bomb to kill all the bugs before departure is better than paying many hundreds of dollars for fumigation in NZ. Some countries have mandatory restriction requiring us to fumigate the container before shipping to NZ or the vehicle but we will guide you on that its still best for the importer to do everything in there power to ensure that no creepy crawlies get into NZ via there vehicle and to avoid the large cost associated with treating this or the other problems listed above once the vehicle arrives in NZ and has been determined to be a biosecurity threat and ordered for treatment.
If you have any questions in relation to quarantine decontamination on vehicles just let us know the team at Rocket Freight are here to answer any questions you might have.
