Author: GPSM

Increased Ocean Freight Rates from the USA:

All shipping lines have announced a General Rate Increase on all cargo from the USA to Australia and New Zealand ports effective from 15th February 2019. For FCL shipments, the rates are still being negotiated by GPSM with the lines involved and while the official announcement is for an increase of USD 250.00/20ft and USD 500.00/40ft FCL, GPSM do expect that we will achieve a far better result than the increase as advertised, our current negotiations are presently on-going.

For LCL cargo from the USA, consolidators have announced a General Rate Increase of USD 10.00 per cbm/1000kgs from all USA origins to all Australia/New Zealand destinations except for Fremantle port, this is serviced by Transhipment service over Singapore and is not part of the USA-Australia rate agreement on direct service carriers. The new LCL rates will come into effect from 15th February 2019.

Shipping lines Bill of Lading Fee:

Most shipping lines in Australia are now charging as high as AUD 115.00 for their bill of lading fee, some have already increased the charge, other now implementing same. The additional cost will be reflected in the Australian Port Charges paid to the lines and billed on GPSM invoices.

Dear Clients,

We would like to remind all clients that the official Chinese New Year Holidays will be celebrated in China this year between 4th February and 10th February 2019.

To avoid any additional storage charges we would suggest you request all documents as soon as possible & forward to us.

Given experiences in past years, we know that many truckers and factory workers begin leaving their jobs earlier than these dates so it may not be possible to arrange any further shipments but if urgent please let us know at your earliest convenience & we will see what can be done.

Several Sydney Container Unpack Depots are experiencing long delays in unpacking containers, be it for LCL cargo or unpacks for Quarantine inspections.

Given the Peak Season period, together with the increase in “Seals Intact inspections” and the continuing BMSB issue, most depots in Sydney are at maximum storage capacity which is hampered by the reduced availability of quarantine officers. In some cases, depots are refusing to accept BMSB/unpack containers due to lack of space.

This has reduced the depots capacity to unpack as little freight is being collected whether due to a Quarantine officer shortage or importers closing down and not receiving deliveries over the Christmas New Year period.

Some depots are unable to unpack at all while others are taking up to ten (10) days to unpack containers at present.

We will keep you updated on the situation as soon as further information becomes available.

In November 2018, a Queensland-based importer was served with the first infringement notice issued under Australia’s illegal logging laws. The notice was issued for ongoing non-compliance with the laws’ due diligence requirements and resulted in the business being penalised $12,600.

The issuance of the infringement notice reflects the Department’s implementation of a full compliance model for the illegal logging laws, with the “soft start-compliance period” ending in January 2018.

In administering the illegal logging laws, we continue to audit importers and processors to assess their compliance with the laws’ requirements. We have now audited over 600 businesses and provided a range of advice on whether their due diligence systems meet the laws’ requirements. More compliance audits are scheduled for 2019.

We have provided information to remind you of your obligations and due diligence requirements and you must also provide us with a statement as per the attachment.

Treatment providers registered under the scheme have demonstrated their capacity to conduct BMSB treatments for applicable consignments. These treatment providers are included on the approved list of offshore BMSB treatment providers.

This list is referenced in section 48A of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods) Determination 2016, section 43 of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods—Christmas Island) Determination 2016, section 44 of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods—Cocos (Keeling) Islands) Determination 2016, and section 43 of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods—Norfolk Island) Determination 2016.
These lists will be updated as required.

*NOTE: The column titled ‘treatment capabilities’ details the types of goods that each company is capable of treating. This information has been provided by the individual company involved and may be subject to change. Where there is no treatment capability indicated, the treatment provider has not indicated their treatment capabilities to the department. This does not mean that the treatment provider is not capable of delivering treatments of this kind. You should confirm the treatment capability with the company concerned. The three categories included in the ‘treatment capabilities’ column correspond to the following descriptions:

Containers: the company can treat containerised cargo at the whole container level

Break bulk: the company can treat goods to be shipped as break bulk, in open-top containers or on flat rack containers

Individual goods: the company can treat individual goods using stack or chamber treatment methods.

 

Airline Fuel Surcharge from Hong Kong:

All airlines operating from Hong Kong to all destinations, including Australia,  have announced another fuel surcharge increase effective from 1st December 2018.

The Fuel Surcharge will be increased from the current level of HKD 2.90/kg to HKD 3.40/kg on all shipments. Rates have been adjusted accordingly and are visible in our Communicator portal.

Ocean Freight Low Sulphur Fuel Surcharge:

Shipping Lines are progressively adopting global Low Sulphur Fuel limits of 0.5% under new regulations that have been implemented.

An additional surcharge will be billed by all shipping lines and is between USD 15.00/20ft or USD 30.00/40ft container up to USD 70.00/20ft and USD 140.00/40ft container depending on origin and destination regions.

A number of lines are implementing the additional surcharge from 1st December 2018, others are implementing it from 1st January 2019. Some lines are including the additional surcharge into the already established Emergency Fuel Surcharge, some are including the surcharge into the freight costs, while others are showing the surcharge as a separate item.

In order to simplify billing and to show transparency, GPSM will be listing the new Low Sulphur Surcharge as a separate line on all invoices depending on the trade lane involved.

Goods that are manufactured on or after 1st December 2018 may be exempt from the seasonal measures providing they meet the following requirements:

• The goods are manufactured on or after 1st December 2018
• The goods are classed as new machinery, vehicles, vessels and/or new complex parts and equipment. This includes goods classified under the following tariff chapters only: 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88 and 89.
• Evidence can be provided to show that the goods are manufactured on or after 1st December 2018. (Evidence can be in various forms such as a manufacturer’s declaration, commercial invoice)
• A declaration can be provided stating the goods are new, unused and not field tested.
• The goods can be verified they have been manufactured on or after 1st December 2018 (Evidence can be supported by labelling on the goods)

BMSB measures will not apply if all the above conditions can be met. The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has applied this policy for previous BMSB seasonal measures. The general policy for this requirement is that ‘a good is only considered to be manufactured on or after 1st December 2018 if all its large, complex components have also been manufactured after 1st December 2018′. This means that any goods that require a significant period to manufacture are not in scope to be exempt from the BMSB measures

For example, a Car classified to Chapter 87, would have to have all the components that go to make up the finished product made on or after 1st December 2018 to be eligible for exemption. Similarly, machinery classified to Chapter 84, would have to have all components made on or after  1st December  2018  to be eligible for exemption.

Dear Clients,

Please be advised that Industrial Action at DP World Terminal in Sydney commenced yesterday at 11.00am and is continuing until at least 9.00am Friday. This has resulted in the cancellation of all time slots and has severely affected deliveries of import and export containers.

It is expected that the industrial action could continue today, Friday, our Transport team will keep you advised as soon as possible on amended delivery arrangements.

It should also be noted that the Maritime Union of Australia will hold their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 27th November 2018 and we expect all deliveries/receivals at all terminals in Sydney to cease between the hours of 9.00am and 2.00pm on that day.

Treatment providers registered under the scheme have demonstrated their capacity to conduct BMSB treatments for applicable consignments. These treatment providers are included on the approved list of offshore BMSB treatment providers.

This list is referenced in section 48A of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods) Determination 2016, section 43 of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods—Christmas Island) Determination 2016, section 44 of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods—Cocos (Keeling) Islands) Determination 2016, and section 43 of the Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods—Norfolk Island) Determination 2016.

These lists will be updated as required.

*NOTE: The column titled ‘treatment capabilities’ details the types of goods that each company is capable of treating. This information has been provided by the individual company involved and may be subject to change. Where there is no treatment capability indicated, the treatment provider has not indicated their treatment capabilities to the department. This does not mean that the treatment provider is not capable of delivering treatments of this kind. You should confirm the treatment capability with the company concerned. The three categories included in the ‘treatment capabilities’ column correspond to the following descriptions:

Containers: the company can treat containerised cargo at the whole container level

Break bulk: the company can treat goods to be shipped as break bulk, in open top containers or on flat rack containers

Individual goods: the company can treat individual goods using stack or chamber treatment methods.

 

BMSB Offshore List Treatment Providers

Understanding your obligations with ‘shared’ responsibility in the Chain of Responsibility CoR 2018.

As many of you are aware on October 1st 2018, the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) was amended to provide that every party in the heavy vehicle transport supply chain has a Primary Duty to ensure the safety of their transport activities. The noteworthy part of these CoR changes is that all parties must now ensure safety “so far as is reasonably practicable” to eliminate/ minimise public risk and ensure that no-one directly or indirectly encourages drivers to contravene HVNL.

Download CoR obligations