FREIGHT forwarding specialist 3DL has announced it is expanding into New Zealand, replicating what it says has been the “compliance excellence, automation capabilities and client outcomes that have underpinned its success in Australia”.
Founder and managing director Chris Roberts said 3DL was partnering with software providers to create fully integrated, automated and data-transparent customs brokerage solutions.
“3DL’s expansion plans are about bringing our independent, non-freight forwarding licensed customs brokerage model to New Zealand, supported by an agnostic approach to technology,” Mr Roberts said.
“We have the ability to integrate with well-known software providers as well as in-house proprietary software, with a number of these integrations already underway and nearing completion.”
He said 3DL Customs & Consulting would bring almost 12 years of benchmark Licensed Customs Brokerage experience and 10 years as an accredited Australian Trusted Trader, qualifications not yet available in New Zealand.
“That accreditation forms part of the international Authorised Economic Operator framework.
“For us, that experience has established a strong baseline around accuracy, compliance and accountability in our dealings with customs regulators,” he said.
Mr Roberts said Australian and New Zealand would both have the benefit of a single clearing agent on both sides of the Tasman.
“Depending on their trading terms and relationships with overseas agencies and networks, this means product knowledge can sit with one entity, commercially sensitive information can be kept close, and the compliance questions required to achieve the right outcome should only need to be answered once,” he said.
The aim is also to provide the digital capability for a freight forwarder to request an export declaration in either country and have the corresponding import entry completed as part of the original request. This has the potential to remove a significant amount of administration through advanced, tailored in-house integrations and pre-programmed, human-in-the-loop intelligence, including AI. These operational systems have been developed and refined by us over the last six years.”
Mr Roberts said they were in the process of finalising the company structures in New Zealand, had identified their first employees, and had the IT hardware and infrastructure in place ready to go once the regulators give them the nod.
“Our current aim is to be operational by the first week of November 2026,” he said.
“We have dozens of long time licensed and experienced Kiwi Brokers keen to get on board with our aspirations as our client base grows, it has been humbling the response to our employment advertisements.”
He said they initially would be careful about the work they accepted.
“Once we are firing on all cylinders, we will progressively expand our service offering to businesses that see compliance outcomes as non-negotiable rather than simply looking for the cheapest clearance outcome,” he said.
Mr Roberts said they would use CargoWise as an “agnostic base platform” and also had agreements with several well-known Asia-Pacific software providers.
“Other providers have indicated they will commence integrations with us as their current development priorities allow,” he said.
“The important point for us is that 3DL is not trying to force the industry into a particular software ecosystem.
“Our approach is to connect with the platforms our clients and their service providers already use.”