Difficult year,but there may be light at the tunnel’s end
AC 221 archive stories
Thursday, 07 March 2013
2012 ended with significant controversy and questions about Australia’s border security, with Customs and Quarantine officers at Sydney airport arrested as detailed making headline news.
The response from government has been appropriate, promising greater internal surveillance, integrity testing and other safeguards.
This will also result in relationships between these government agencies and the import sector being more “clinical”. There will be no point in industry contacting Customs to check the status of consignments selected for risk assessment because Customs will not be able to say.
Customs will no doubt further examine opportunities to reform systems and processes.
Last year’s Operation Polaris identified illegal activity within the logistics sector, resulting in tightening of Integrated Cargo System (ICS) functionality as well as Customs broker and depot licensing conditions.
It is anticipated Customs will further reform its targeting strategies to obtain further data about importers through the much-discussed concept of “Entity Based” risk assessment.
It is also likely that the government will want to see changes in the very near future, with 2013 being an election year and border protection featuring in campaign activity.
In a formal submission to Customs and Border Protection, FTA has recommended specific solutions to enhance current systems and risk assessment methodologies. FTA has also offered assistance in ongoing reforms to help protect Australian borders and increase facilitation of legitimate trade.
If this outcome can be achieved, the short term pain of 2012’s controversies may be the catalyst for longer-term reforms benefiting the Australian community and commerce.
– Paul Zalai. — www.FTAlliance.com.au
Difficult year,but there may be light at the tunnel’s end
AC 221 archive stories
Thursday, 07 March 2013
2012 ended with significant controversy and questions about Australia’s border security, with Customs and Quarantine officers at Sydney airport arrested as detailed making headline news.
The response from government has been appropriate, promising greater internal surveillance, integrity testing and other safeguards.
This will also result in relationships between these government agencies and the import sector being more “clinical”. There will be no point in industry contacting Customs to check the status of consignments selected for risk assessment because Customs will not be able to say.
Customs will no doubt further examine opportunities to reform systems and processes.
Last year’s Operation Polaris identified illegal activity within the logistics sector, resulting in tightening of Integrated Cargo System (ICS) functionality as well as Customs broker and depot licensing conditions.
It is anticipated Customs will further reform its targeting strategies to obtain further data about importers through the much-discussed concept of “Entity Based” risk assessment.
It is also likely that the government will want to see changes in the very near future, with 2013 being an election year and border protection featuring in campaign activity.
In a formal submission to Customs and Border Protection, FTA has recommended specific solutions to enhance current systems and risk assessment methodologies. FTA has also offered assistance in ongoing reforms to help protect Australian borders and increase facilitation of legitimate trade.
If this outcome can be achieved, the short term pain of 2012’s controversies may be the catalyst for longer-term reforms benefiting the Australian community and commerce.
