Customs licensing review – changes to timeframes

The following has been received from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) as regards to the Review of Licensing.

“We appreciate the responses received from industry and government stakeholders as they have provided valuable information and suggestions. We received a total of 37 submissions.

We need to consult further with industry and government stakeholders to ensure we fully understand the complexity of the issues raised, their interrelationships with other programmes and processes, and their relationship to the entire supply chain. Therefore, we have decided to extend the timeframe for the review.

The draft recommendations will now be released on 11 July 2016 and the final report will be submitted to the Comptroller-General of Customs on 31 August 2016 for consideration.

See Review of all customs licensing arrangements for more information.”

On this matter the CBFCA in correspondence to the DIBP stated:

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Licensing Review

While there have been some initial low level discussions between the DIBP and the CBFCA on the Licensing Review (whether it relates to licensed customs brokers, depots or warehouses), the lack of meaningful discussion between the parties worries the CBFCA. This Licensing Review, particularly in relation to its Terms of Reference, will impact on the regulatory/business interface for a significant future period, and in the CBFCA's opinion, to not devote the necessary time or resources to this process will have serious impacts and consequences not only for service providers in international trade logistics and supply chain management, but also for the DIBP, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the Office of Transport Security, a variety of other governmental and non-governmental organisations and for importers and exporters (and other parties involved in international trade).

The timeline for the draft Recommendations was set as 14 April 2016 with a Review of submissions and Evaluation discussions to be completed by 4 May 2016 and Recommendations to be finalised by 30 June 2016. In the opinion of the CBFCA, this ambitious timetable is no longer realistic or appropriate. While it is understood that a request is being made for an extension of the Licensing Review timelines, this extension without appropriate interface with the industry association which represents, in particular, individual and corporate licensed customs brokerages, will, in the CBFCA’s opinion, not deliver the appropriate or desired outcome(s).

On this issue, the CBFCA would like to see a more coherent and coordinated approach to this Licensing Review with regular meetings between the parties.