Peter Coggins writes about Australian Customs.  I've heard it said
that Australia has some strange customs!

We've even got a few strange customs here in New Zealand:  among them
is GST ("Goods And Service Tax")  that adds twelve and a half percent
on to every purchase in this country, new or second-hand.  It applies
to imported goods as well, added to the cost of the item and the
freight cost.  I hear that Australia is thinking of copying us.

Well, GST has its good points:  in our case it replaced sales taxes,
some of which added as much as a hundred and fifty per cent to the
cost.  But an interesting point is emerging from this thread: I note
that in several countries the import duties or taxes are not imposed if
the value of the shipment is less than a certain (unspecified) figure.

Perhaps it's worth keeping in mind: avoid higher costs by keeping
individual shipments low in value.  Not to mention the dollar slide:
a year ago the $NZ reached .67 cents against the $US: today it's .49
cents.  I don't think I'll be importing any Welte Organs in the near
future . . .

Michael Woolf
Wellington
New Zealand