New Zealand's Customs Minister, Nicky Wagner, has revealed that more than NZ$6 million from the country's Future Investment Fund will go towards expanding and modernising SmartGate at New Zealand's borders to help manage increasing numbers of travellers. "Expanding the automated border processing capacity at Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch airports will enable Customs to manage the forecast growth in traveller volumes, which is expected to increase by around 2.3 million by 2019," says Ms Wagner."Nine new generation SmartGates, which deliver a faster process, will be installed this year. The remaining 20 SmartGates will be installed over the next 18 to 24 months."The new SmartGates use a faster, more efficient, integrated process that incorporates the passport scanner into the gate, eliminating the kiosk and ticket. Passengers scan their passport and step up to the biometric scanner, which is an improvement on the current two-step process."The new SmartGates will improve Customs' capability to manage forecast traveller growth for New Zealand, Australian, and other nationalities."With annual passenger numbers expected to increase to nearly 12.7 million by 2019, Customs will be well positioned to manage this increase efficiently and effectively."The accuracy of biometrics enables Customs to focus on managing security risks at the border as well as ensuring that legitimate travellers are cleared in a fast and seamless way."Last year, 10.4 million air passengers crossed our border; and 96.4% were processed within 45 minutes, which is well above the global ICAO standard of 90%."The World Economic Forum ranks New Zealand sixth in the world for efficiency of the border, and the investment in new SmartGates will help further enhance our standing on the world stage," says Ms Wagner.

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