Covid 19 coronavirus: Government scraps import tax on soaps and Covid-19 testing kits

Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said. Photo / Andrew Warner

The Government will waive the import tax on all medical and hygiene imports needed for its Covid-19 response and is calling on other world leaders to follow its lead.

From today, the Government will apply a tariff concession to a range of products critical to its Covid-19 response.

These include testing kits, soap imports and diagnostic reagents.

"We are encouraging other countries to join us in this commitment as soon as possible," Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker said.

And this is just the first step, Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said.

Officials are in the process of identifying other medical and hygiene products needed for the Government's Covid-19 response and will scrap or reduce the import tax on those products as well.

"There is increased global demand for these medical and hygiene products and some countries are restricting their exports of them," Faafoi said.

"We want to make sure that New Zealand has the most straightforward and cost-effective access possible to the supply of the goods needed to respond to Covid-19.

New Zealand has 451 Covid-19 cases; two people are in critical condition in separate intensive care units.

Faafoi said despite the fact a lot of imports have low, or no, border tax, products used for the Government's Covid-19 response still remain subject to the taxes.

The tariff exemption is just a temporary measure – it is unclear at this stage how long the scheme will remain in place.

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"Removing tariffs on these products will reduce their cost of imports and facilitate access to them from the widest possible range of overseas suppliers."

Parker said it was imperative that during the Covid-19 global pandemic that the trade of medical supplies continues to flow freely.

"This is why New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Chile, Brunei and Myanmar recently announced our shared commitment to maintaining open and connected trade and supply chains."

That agreement applied to food as well as medical supplies.

"We believe that global cooperation on trade can enable a better response to this global health crisis," Parker said.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website