Incoming changes to the fees charged by the New Zealand Customs Service have been postponed in a bid to help businesses affected by the coronavirus.

According to the country's minister of customs Jenny Salesa, the government will be freezing its planned price hikes at the border until next year.

New Zealand has fixed fees that it charges to clear imported and exported goods across its borders, known as goods clearance fees.

As of June 1st 2020, these fees on products were due to rise by 13 per cent, affecting 70,000 importers and millions of customers. Intellectual property rights holders with border protection notices would also have been impacted.

However, with the emergence of the coronavirus and the effects it has had on businesses all over the world, the government has decided to put its plans on hold for at least 12 months.

As a result, six million low-value exports and 11 million low-value imports travelling by air freight will be able to avoid any extra charges, something that is sure to be welcomed by business owners.

"Putting these fee rises on hold is the right thing to do," Ms Salesa commented.

It has already been agreed that businesses struggling to pay their duties - including importers and excise manufacturers - will be permitted to avoid late payment penalties, with this applying to charges and interest accrued on or after March 25th 2020 for up to two years.

Prior to the global pandemic, New Zealand had planned to increase transaction fees charged for imported and inward cargo, raise hourly rates for customs services outside of standard hours, and introduce a recovery of costs for customs services for the storage and disposal of goods.

New Zealand's top three trade partners for the year ending June 2019 were Australia, China and the European Union, which accounted for almost half of its total trade with the rest of the world.

However, all have been strongly affected by the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.