Please be advised that due overnight storms, heavy rain and many power outages in the Sydney area last night and further heavy rain expected today, there are expected to be delays in container terminals and LCL depots resulting in deliveries and collection of containers to be behind scheduled times.
Our Transport Team are closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates on any additional delays as necessary.
The World Organisation for Animal Health reported on 10 January 2025 that a case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in Germany, the first such occurrence in the country since 1988.
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is working to assess the biosecurity risk to Australia and what this might mean for import conditions for the following impacted commodities:
To help mitigate the risk to Australia, Germany has been removed from the list of FMD-free countries effective 14 November 2024.
The department will shortly amend its FMD free list to reflect Germany’s new FMD status. Any commercial dairy consignment or personal quantities of dairy and beef food items from Germany will be held under biosecurity control, effective immediately. Germany is a large dairy producer and exporter, including to Australia.
Over the coming days the department will undertake a detailed assessment of all traded goods from Germany and may introduce additional import restrictions for commodities, including pet food, stock feed, laboratory reagents and reproductive material.
The department will also directly contact with any permit holders or permit applicants impacted by this outbreak to advise of any potential changes to import conditions that may be required to protect Australia’s livestock production industries.
FMD does not infect humans and does not pose a food safety risk but an incursion of the virus would have severe consequences for Australia’s animal health and trade. ABARES estimates direct economic losses of around $80 billion over a ten-year period to the livestock and meat processing sector should an outbreak occur in Australia.
Please click Read More to view IIAN 06-2025 in its entirety.
The United Kingdom (UK) will officially join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on 24 December 2024.
This agreement will allow the UK’s goods to benefit from preferential duty rates under the CPTPP framework, expanding trade opportunities with member countries, including Australia.
Most products will be duty-free, but exceptions like specific cheese and steel products will face transitional tariffs. Safeguards on certain steel goods of Chapter 72 and 73 (refer Attachment A to ACN 2024/43) will suspend preferential rates, aligning with UK global safeguards until mid-2026.
Phasing duty rates in existing Free Trade Agreements
On 1 January 2025, preferential rates of customs duty under the following free trade agreements will be reduced:
For example, ECTA will see a reduction in duty rates for certain iron, steel, and aluminum products from 2% to 1%.
Additionally, the suspension of preferential duty rates under A-UKFTA is expanded from 24 December 2024 for certain steel products of Chapter 72 and 73 to align with the UK’s global safeguard measures on these goods.
For affected goods, duty rates will rise to 5% and remain in place until June 2026. However, refunds may be available for overpaid duties during the interim periods.
Impact of amendments and withdrawals on duty rates.
It is critical that importers and customs brokers are mindful of the impact of date of lodgment on phasing duty rates and where possible lodge the FID on a date that ensures that that the lower phasing rate is received, noting also the impact on date of entry for home consumption of advance entries.
Customs Act s.132 (2) provides that if an entry is withdrawn and the goods are subsequently entered on another import declaration, the rate of duty payable is the rate in force when the goods were first entered for home consumption, unless the goods are bonded after the first import declaration is withdrawn. In this case the rate of duty payable is the rate in force when the goods are ultimately entered for home consumption on the Nature 30.
For more information please refer to:
ACN 2024-43 – United Kingdom’s Accession to the CPTPP
ACN 2024-44 – Suspension and reduction of preferential rates of customs duty
Importers subject to imported food Inspections may be eligible to apply for what essentially is an accreditation scheme to reduce the number of inspection if you meet the requirement of the Food Import Compliance Agreement ( FICA ) .
Food importers can enter into a Food Import Compliance Agreement (FICA) with us. These agreements are made under section 35A of the Imported Food Control Act 1992.
Many food importers have documented food safety management systems for sourcing and importing safe food.
Under a FICA, we recognize these systems as an alternative to the inspection and testing of food imports under the Imported Food Inspection Scheme.
Entering into a FICA allows you to:
You won’t have to book or pay for an imported food inspection under a FICA. Instead, we monitor your compliance with requirements by regularly auditing your system. You can choose to have all the food you import under a FICA or just certain types of food.
All goods imported into Australia must meet biosecurity requirements. This includes food imported under a FICA. Check the Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).
Further information can be found in the link below and the attachments
https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/import/goods/food/how/fica
To apply for this you will need to complete the attached application form and be subject to an audit
For full details please see the attachment.
Application to enter into a food import compliance agreement.pdf
Start date From 1 January 2025, engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs will become prohibited imports under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956.
Engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs that contain at least 1% crystalline silica substance as a weight/weight concentration and is created by combining natural stone materials with other chemical constituents (such as water, resins, or pigments), and becomes hardened.
For full details please read see the attachment.
It was great to see some rate relief at long last from above countries into Australia, some substantial rate reductions have been applied by shipping lines effective from 1st December, 2024. We are hopeful that trend will continue but as has been the case in recent years, there may be a final rate spike to come prior to Chinese New Year which this year falls earlier than normal in late January, 2025.
All the new rates have been added to GPSM rates module and we will naturally keep everyone further updated as soon as we have any further rate news.
The container terminal operators in Australia, D P World, Patrick, and VICT have announced numerous charges increase from 1st January, 2025.
Below is commentary that DP World and other industry sources issued when advising of the increased costs, seen as justification for the terminals to go ahead despite many Australia companies already being in financial hardship.
Further details on the terminals Investment Program and cost increases are stated below:
Patrick’s:
DP World:
VICT:
GPSM are working through all the cost increases, they not only relate to access and infrastructure fees, there are also steep increases in many fees that trucking companies pay for bulk load out runs, empty container returns to port terminals, annual subscriptions to the various booking systems, energy surcharges and other incidental costs that GPSM absorb.
GPSM costs from 1st January 2025 will increase in line with the above announcements, all charges will be updated in or rates module and kindly note that the costs vary from port to port.
LCL Unpack Depots have announced they will increase the LCL booking fees to $ 45.00 per shipment effective from 1st January 2025. We regret we will need to pass on these out of pocket cost increases to all clients.
Numerous lines have announced they will be increasing Australian Port Charges from 1st January 2025, increases vary up to $ 15.00/container depending on the line involved.
Shipping Line Documentation Fees are also due to increase from many lines from 1st January, 2025, the costs vary a little from line to line but most lines will now charge + $ 150.00 for this fee.
The same situation exists in New Zealand with shipping line documentation fee increasing to + NZD150 per bill of lading.
KiwiRail regarding their announced rail closure in Auckland over the upcoming Summer period. The closure will be in place from the 27th December 2024 to the 27th January 2025, and KiwiRail will be moving import / export containers between Tauranga and Auckland Metroport via a mixture of rail and road services.
KiwiRail are not applying any additional charges for this road-bridging service, however we believe that a backlog is likely to occur over this time due to the volumes between these ports, resulting in delays on containers and ongoing congestion into February.
An ongoing dispute by port workers and terminal operators in Montreal and Vancouver has resulted in the union voting to reject substantial pay offer of more than 20% to be implemented over 6 years retrospective to early 2024.
The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) noted that would mean the average compensation for dockers would equate to more than C$200,000 (AUD 234,300) a year, and would also apply to the current pension plan and benefits offered to port of Montreal workers.
Operations have been halted at Montreal & Vancouver since 31 October and now port operators have now declared a lockout of workers. Rail operators have now advised they will not accept bookings for containers moving into Montreal until further notice.
Vessel operators are now considering alternative options to avoid the dispute, while in breaking news, the Canadian Government has stepped in and directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order a resumption of all work and move talks to binding arbitration.
The terminals operated by DP World and Patricks have announced the implementation of increased charges from 1st January 2025 at all their terminals across Australia.
As yet Hutchinson ports or VICT Melbourne have not made any announcement but are expected to follow suit.
We will advise all variations to current rates once costs are on hand and checked, the terminals are claiming they are spending huge amounts on infrastructure at all terminals and need to recoup those outgoings.
MSC Lines have announced they are starting a new service to Australia from NW Continent ports of Hamburg, Antwerp, Rotterdam, London and Le Havre. Containers will tranship at Port Louis and the Australian port rotation will be Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle. MSC are quoting transit times as follows:
| SOUTHBOUND | SYDNEY | MELBOURNE | ADELAIDE | FREMANTLE |
| ANTWERP | 37 days | 42 days | 46 days | 51 days |
| LONDON GATEWAY | 36 days | 40 days | 44 days | 50 days |
| ROTTERDAM | 48 days | 53 days | 57 days | 62 days |
| BREMERHAVEN | 42 days | 47 days | 51 days | 56 days |
| HAMBURG | 43 days | 48 days | 52 days | 58 days |
| LE HARVE | 41 days | 44 days | 46 days | 50 days |
Above transit times are indicative only and subject to change without notice.
The above service is a replacement for the previous service that operated via Singapore to Australia and an addition to the direct service from NW Continent ports.
It is expected that the Trump administration will implement large tariffs on imports from China in USA when they power. At this time there is no indication of any expected changes to Australian goods entering USA nor any news on the future of the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and USA.
What is clear is that American importers are ramping up purchases from China prior to the new administration taking over, this may have some ramifications as it is expected many lines will add extra services and the increased volumes are likely to cause congestion at USA ports. This may have an effect on the container traffic to and from USA, GPSM will keep you fully informed of further developments.
MSC Line have just introduced a new weekly service from Shanghai to Fremantle. These are the only load and discharge ports involved at present.
Transit time is being quoted at 12 to 14 days on port to port basis, so in order to avoid the on-going delays in Singapore and Malaysia transhipment hubs, GPSM will be supporting this service for all our FCL Fremantle clients.
An authorised MUA (maritime Union Australia) stop work meeting will be held in DP World Melbourne Terminal from 9:30 am – 2:00 pm on Wednesday, 30th October 2024.
All terminal operations will cease during this period and the stoppage will have an effect on all deliveries planned for that day.
Our Transport Team will keep all affected clients fully updated on any delivery times changes necessary.
The ports of Port Klang in Malaysia and Singapore are still experiencing congestion and transhipments to Australia continue to encounter delays in meeting connecting vessels.
The delays have built up over recent months following the Suez Canal closure, an unexpected increase in the bookings that lines received from April 2024 onwards, a general lack of empty equipment globally and several weather events in Asia that have delayed vessels departures on several routes.
We would suggest you factor in additional delay time in your planning for any shipment moving via these ports, at present we are seeing up to 2 weeks delay over Singapore and approximately 3 weeks delay over Port Klang. The services to Fremantle and Adelaide have been impacted the most over recent months.
The Qantas Group and Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport (WSI) have strengthened their strategic partnership, with Qantas Freight signing on as the airport’s first freight airline to operate at its 24-hour Cargo Precinct.
The precinct will increase Sydney’s air cargo capacity by around 33 per cent upon opening and provide dedicated access via the upgraded Northern Road and proximity to growing freight and logistics centres at Kemps Creek and the Aerotropolis.
Qantas will support the movement of a diverse range of goods as part of its cargo operation in the precinct, which will have an overall footprint of approximately 24,000 square metres, including about 14,000 square metres of warehousing. The hub will be capable of facilitating Qantas’ transformed freighter fleet of new and upgraded Airbus A321 and A330 aircraft.
Construction of the precinct – which will include up to 75,000 square metres of total warehousing and be capable of servicing eight wide-body aircraft at any one time – began earlier this year and remains on track for cargo operations to commence in late 2026.
Further to our Newsflash on Wednesday this week advising of a strike at US ports, we have just received news form our USA agents that the port strike at East Coast and Gulf has been postponed.
Port workers will return to work on Friday morning (US time)
A new interim contract has been agreed on by the parties, it is valid until 15th January 2025 and we are hopeful that negotiations on a new contract from January can be resolved in the meantime.
The ILA (International Longshoremen’s Association) and USMX ( US Maritime Alliance, representing employers at US East Coast and Gulf ports) have been negotiating a new contract for several months, talks reached a standstill late last week and the ILA threatened to strike from Tuesday (US Time). The strike encompasses around 45,000 ILS members across the various ports and will be the first East Coast port strike since 1977.
The scale of the strike and the resulting ripple effect will significantly disrupt cargo movement along the U.S. East Coast, U.S. Gulf, and across alternative shipping routes. Vessels schedules will be impacted, as some carriers may reroute to alternative ports while others will anchor offshore awaiting resolution.
The following ports have ceased operation already:
Despite the high stakes, the Biden administration has indicated that the president does not plan to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows presidential intervention in labor disputes that create a national emergency. The Act allows 80 days cooling off period so the various parties can continue negotiations and requires all workers to return to their jobs.
This industrial action will lead to stranded vessels off the East Coast/Gulf area, and already today we have seen a couple of shipping lines issue notices that a Port Strike Congestion Surcharge will be introduced to all affected containers. The amounts being quoted today are around USD 1500.00/20ft container and USD 3000.00/40ft container with specialized equipment (Reefer, Open-Top, Flat-Racks) possibly attracting even higher costs.
LCL consolidations will also be affected, we have today seen a surcharge of USD 35.00 per cbm/1000kgs applied by consolidators from all USA origin points, effective immediately.
GPSM will keep all clients updated as soon as further information comes to hand.
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