Booklet promotes understanding of border control

Promoting a better understanding of the challenges facing New Zealand's changing border environment is the focus of a new resource launched today.

Customs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the release of the booklet, Conceptualising the Border, provided the government and its agencies with "a common language for discussion" on border security issues, and would contribute to greater understanding of the changing modern environment that Customs and other border control agencies were working within to keep New Zealand safe.

"As this booklet highlights, too often the process of managing borders is taken for granted until something goes wrong. Fortunately for New Zealand, while our controls can't stop everything, we have an enviable international reputation for the integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of our border agencies," Nanaia Mahuta said.

"Successive governments have long understood the importance of the border as a point of control. And, as this booklet outlines, given the unique challenges that protecting our border represents, this often requires a different approach and set of enforcement tools from other agencies.

"In New Zealand, the border is one area where it is particularly important for agencies to work together, and bringing these concepts about the border out into the open will make it easier for these agencies to consider jointly the questions they raise. It is this sort of understanding that can help build enduring cooperation and collaboration.

"Having a solid set of concepts to work from is also going to strengthen New Zealand's ability to respond to future issues – particularly in the enhanced security environment border agencies are now working within, post 9/11.

"The release of the booklet is timely in terms of the Labour-led government's commitment to driving economic transformation, building national identity and supporting families young and old, as having a safe, well-managed border has an impact on all of these three key areas. It also reminds us that border control has a huge effect on how our country interacts with the rest of the world."

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