Goods that are the produce or manufacture of Russia or Belarus and left for direct shipment to Australia from a place of manufacture or warehouse in a country from which the goods were exported between 25 April 2022 and 24 October 2022 and are entered for home consumption in Australia within this period are no longer eligible for the general rate of customs duty in Schedule 3 of the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (Customs Tariff Act).

In-transit goods and goods on the water Goods are for direct shipment to Australia if they do not enter the commerce of another country prior to entry for home consumption in Australia. Therefore, where goods that are the produce or manufacture of Russia or Belarus have left from a place of manufacture or warehouse in a country from where the goods are exported before 25 April 2022 and have not been imported into another country prior to being entered for home consumption or warehousing in Australia, the additional duty rate of 35% will not be payable if these goods are entered for home consumption between 25 April 2022 and 24 October 2022.

Attachment:

ACN 2022_21 – New rates of customs duty for Russian and Belarusian goods.pdf

GPSM offices will be closed for Easter Holidays as below:

Friday 15th April: Office closed

Saturday 16th April: Office closed

Sunday 17th April: Office closed

Monday 18th April: Office closed

We shall resume normal operations on Tuesday 19th April, 2022.

Ports will continue to work vessels through the holiday period, our Transport Team will be in contact with customers regarding movement of any containers over the holidays.

Phase 6A , as of 12 July 2021, Full Container Load/Full Container Consolidated (FCL/FCX) containers that are packed in a khapra beetle target risk country and will be unpacked in a rural grain growing area of Australia (see attached postcode list) must be treated offshore using an approved treatment option. These measures apply to the above containers exported on or from 12 July 2021.

This measure has been expanded to further minimize the risk of the introduction and spread of khapra beetle to high-risk rural areas.

As part of this, Full Container Load/Full Container Consolidated (FCL/FCX) containers that are packed in a khapra beetle target risk country and will be unpacked in a rural nut growing postcode of Australia must be treated offshore using an approved treatment option. This requirement will only apply to containers exported on or after 15 December 2021.

The container must be:

• treated prior to packing, except if using methyl bromide fumigation
  • o If using methyl bromide fumigation, the container can be treated when empty or when packed (provided it complies with our requirements)
• treated within 21 days prior to export
• accompanied by appropriate certification.

Failure to comply with these requirements will result in the export of the container upon arrival in Australia.

Important: The target of these treatments is the container and not the goods/commodity being shipped within the container. However, the goods may also need to be treated offshore under Phase 3 of the urgent actions.

Attachments:

• List of target risk countries for host of khapra beetle
• Khapra Urgent Actions_ Rural Grain Growing Postcodes
• Flowchart Phase 6A – SEA CONTAINER MEASURES FOR KHAPRA BEETLE

Please note that due to the high winds in Sydney Port Botany area at present that Empty Container Parks are not accepting return or pick-up of empty containers.

This will affect many operations today and our Transport Team will keep affected clients updated on the operational issues and solutions.

The City of Shanghai has been affected by a COVID out break and the city will be closed down by authorities for one week from today 28 March until 5th April 2022..

The cities’ East area will close from today until April 1st and then the western area of the city will close from April 1st until April 5th.

The above closures will seriously affect pick-up and deliveries from other cities to/from Shanghai and pick-ups within the Shanghai area will almost cease as many drivers will be confined to home or will be blocked from entering the area.

Our Shanghai partners are suggesting that shipments can be re-routed to Ningbo Port, please contact your GPSM Customer Service Team contact if you wish to look at this alternative action to avoid delays.

Union Members have agreed to vote for the most recent proposal by Patrick’s Terminals on their Enterprise Bargaining Agreement across all four (4) Patrick’s Terminals in Australia.

The following is an extract from a notice released by Patricks:

“The new deal provides Patrick Terminals with increased operational flexibility to better meet customers’ needs and service the changing supply chain landscape. The new agreement provides Patrick Terminals with the right to recruit at their discretion without restrictive union quotas.

Michael Jovicic, CEO Patrick Terminals said, “We are pleased to have secured support for our new enterprise agreement across our workforce. This new four-year arrangement provides the flexibility that we sought in regard to recruitment and will allow us to better service our customers in regard to manning, new technology and operational efficiency. We would like to thank our customers for their patience over the past 2 years and now look forward to a future of industrial stability on the Patrick waterfront.”

The new Enterprise Agreement will now be lodged with the Fair Work Commission to ratify”.