A Timaru man has been arrested and charged after importing a child sex doll.

A Customs spokesman said the 57-year-old appeared in court this afternoon charged with importing a prohibited good, and possessing objectionable publications involving the sexual exploitation of children.

It is New Zealand's first prosecution for the importation of a child sex doll.

Customs officers at the Air Cargo Inspection Facility had earlier examined a consignment sent from China and found it contained a life-like sex doll that resembled a young child.

Such dolls are considered obscene or indecent articles under the Customs and Excise Act 1996, making them prohibited from importation.

Following an investigation, Customs investigators, with the support of Timaru Police, executed a search warrant at his home this morning resulting in his arrest.

Customs investigations manager Bruce Berry said Customs had been closely monitoring international trends around child sex dolls and fine-tuning its targeting techniques, knowing that if such dolls were available overseas they would turn up at our border too.

"A handful of seizures had been made previously and, while each one was followed up, this arrest marks our first ever prosecution for this type of prohibited import.

"This arrest should serve as a warning to other potential importers that just because child sex dolls are available from overseas, it doesn't make them legal in New Zealand."