On Wednesday March 23 the CBFCA, represented by Andrea Green, Matt Favazzo and John Park, met with representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) in Perth to discuss issues that had been raised by members. The DAWR were represented by
Andrea Haxton - A/g Assistant Director | Assessment Services Group | Import Services (Melbourne)
Tracey Lopes - Manager | Assessment Services Group | Service Delivery Operations (Perth)
David Edwards – Snr. Biosecurity Officer, (Food Specialist – Perth)
The first step forward in our discussions was the advice that
Tracey Lopes had been appointed as Manager to oversee the ASG and service delivery in Perth. We were also advised that under Andrea’s direction the Perth staffing levels would be increased by 4 staff.
The matters raised centered on both the performance of COLS and the service delivery standards especially between 1400 / 1500 and post 1545 Perth time.
# Andrea advised that performance level for Priority 3 was now at 2 business days and Priority 1 was at 1 business day. We advised that this was not the experience of WA brokers and Andrea agreed to review and advise. Examples of delays to be provided by Andrea Green.
# Concern that documents that had been lodged are being requested a second time – brokers cannot see what they lodged. This was being reviewed with a view to enabling brokers to view history and lodgements – this will be addressed in COLS stage 2 (mid/late June)
# Concern raised that between 1400/1500 brokers are either not being answered or being told to call back after 1500 when Perth come line. Andrea advised that this should not be happening as they have a “follow the sun” policy and T2 staff should always be available. Andrea agreed to review.
# We also advised that brokers had been told when calling late in afternoon that after 1545 there was no assistance available. This has been reviewed and there was a commitment that there would be officers available till 1600 hrs (current DAWR agreed hours). However there was an agreement that when extra officers were employed negotiations would be undertaken to extend till 1700 hrs.
# Brokers also raised the issue of “assessment complete” being applied to entries when they had not been processed. We were advised that this had been identified as a technical issue as to where buttons were placed on officers screens but this had been changed and should not still be happening. We advised still happening DAWR will review.
# Concern also raised as to the “hold” not being removed on P/E entries when the entry is processed. Andrea said this had been raised at meetings and all staff advised, she will again raise the matter. Please see steps below
Some steps to follow
1. If you call Tier 1 and you know that the issue is a Tier 2 issue – tell the officer it is a Tier 2 issue and briefly explain and ask to be put through (if you are not put through ask the officers name and send issue through to
[email protected] [email protected] and cc
[email protected] quoting LRN / officers name and time
2. If you call Tier 1 and they advise no one can assist / or call back – pls send through email as above quoting LRN/ officers name and time
3. If you have a P/E entry please ensure you
make a note in the comments field for the officer to lift hold. If hold not lifted please email as above quoting LRN
4. If you are getting entries come back as “assessment complete” and no direction has been issued – again as above send email and quote LRN
5. If you have a shipment arriving on the weekend e.g. Sunday, then you can lodge this as urgent on Thursday. By categorising the consignment as urgent, arriving in 48 hours and given it’s over a weekend, the entry can be lodged as priority one meaning one business day for assessing
6. Please note upload limit for docs is approx. 8.2mb so if you are aware your files are larger please use COLS add documentation function to add documents to the existing LRN
We found the officers to be very proactive and keen to make sure they had a system that was delivering to needs of industry. The appointment of a local manager will also add to our ability to seek assistance in the future
What we have noticed is that brokers are experiencing issues and adopting a “well it’s just the system” approach and not raising the issues.
Issues need to be raised WHEN they happen so we can address immediately. The DAWR officers we spoke to have access to logs so they can track entries but this needs to be done at the time and not weeks later.
We trust the above will enable both industry and the DAWR to improve the flow of clearances.
If you have ongoing issues please keep us advised