Author: GPSM

Pro-Forma Invoices are not acceptable by Australian Border Force (ABF ), a Pro-Forma is not a demand for payment and may not provide sufficient evidence to determine the actual price paid for the goods. Importers should not rely on Pro-Forma documents for processing of customs entries, as they will not be acceptable to support statements made in customs declarations without further verification by ABF. The Australian border force has found that these documents are highly inaccurate in a significant number of cases.

This policy is also adopted regarding the use of Electronic invoices, some importers create an electronic invoice in order to establish a record of the value of goods, the ABF has found that they do not reflect important details of sales transactions Including the value of the goods, and as such are also unacceptable.

Acceptable commercial documents are:

Purchase order

Contact of sale

Order confirmation

Commercial invoice

Evidence of payment is :

Letter of credit

Bank Transfers

Receipts

Paypal

EFT

Credit card bank statements

The turmoil surrounding ocean freight rates from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan appears set to continue in 2017.

Following the rate reductions we negotiated for February 2017 shipment from the above areas, we have started receiving shipping line notices advising of increased rates effective from 1st March, 2017.

Per our earlier Newsletters, it is not uncommon to receive these notices, as under the terms of the Alliance agreement the lines are required by Law to advertise any increases in advance.

The increases being advised at present are USD 300.00/20ft container and USD 600.00/40ft container, this will be the maximum permitted but we would expect these increases will be mitigated according to market conditions. Further information will be advised as we near closer to the implementation date and we finalise our negotiations with the various lines.

Please note any substantial increases is expected to also lead to a rate increase on LCL traffic from above areas.

The rate variations have resulted the shipping lines suffering huge financial losses over the last few years and their confirmation that they are unable to sustain the low rate levels we have become accustomed to in non-peak periods. A number of factors has led to the decline in the industry, including the following:

The financial collapse of Hanjin Line in 2016.

The financial collapse of Great Southern Lines in 2016.

The merger between China Shipping Line and COSCO Line in 2016.

The takeover of Hamburg-SUD Line in 2017 by Maersk Line.

The merging of NYK, K Line and OML Lines in April 2017.

And more recently the announced Merger between Hapag Lloyd and United Arab Agencies expected in the new couple of months.

Do you import goods listed in the Dumping commodity schedule, if so you may be subject to paying dumping Duty.
Please take a moment to read the schedule and contact our office to discuss if any of these measures will
impact on the cargo you import.

Dumping Commodity Registers

Current measures are listed by commodity. Linked to each commodity is the dumping commodity register (DCR) which provides information when importing goods subject to measures.

DCRs notify the outcomes of finalised investigations and should be read in conjunction with any relevant current investigations, such as reviews and inquiries. Refer to the Cases page to review current cases by commodity.

Commodity	Country(ies) of export	Tariff Classification
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (PDF 456KB)	China	2918.99.00 3808.93.00
A4 Copy Paper (PDF 169KB)	Brazil, China, Indonesia and Thailand	4802.56.10
Aluminium Extrusions (PDF 216KB)	China, Vietnam and Malaysia	7604.10.00 7604.21.00 7604.29.00 7608.10.00 7608.20.00 7610.10.00 7610.90.00
Aluminium Road Wheels (PDF 194KB)	China	8708.70.91 8708.70.99 8716.90.00
Aluminium Zinc Coated Steel (PDF 539KB)	China and Korea	7210.61.00
Ammonium Nitrate (PDF 148KB)	Russia and Russia via Estonia	3102.30.00
Chrome Bars (PDF 165KB)	Romania	7215.90.00 7215.50.90 7228.30.10 7228.60.10 7228.60.90
Clear Float Glass (PDF 173KB)	China, Indonesia and Thailand	7005.29.00
Currants, Processed Dried (PDF 197KB)	Greece	0806.20.00
Deep Drawn Stainless Steel Sinks (PDF 215KB)	China	7324.10.00
Grinding Balls (PDF 495KB)	China	7325.91.00 7326.11.00 7326.90.90
Hollow Structural Sections (PDF 252KB)	China, Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan	7306.30.00 7306.61.00 7306.69.00
Hollow Structural Sections (PDF 331KB)	Thailand	7306.30.00 7306.50.00 7306.61.00 7306.69.00 7306.90.00
Hot Rolled Coil Steel (PDF 436KB)	Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan	7208.25.00 7208.26.00 7208.27.00 7208.36.00 7208.37.00 7208.38.007208.39.00 7208.53.00 7208.54.00 7208.90.00 7211.14.00 7211.19.00
Hot Rolled Plate Steel (PDF 392KB)	China, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea	7208.40.00 7208.51.00 7208.52.00 7225.40.00
Hot Rolled Structural Steel Sections (PDF 422KB)	Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand	7216.31.00 7216.32.00 7216.33.00 7216.40.00 7228.70.00
Pineapple Fruit – Consumer & FSI (PDF 209KB)	Philippines and Thailand	2008.20.00
Power Transformers (PDF 158KB)	Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand	8504.22.00 8504.23.00
Quenched and Tempered Steel Plate (PDF 155KB)	Finland, Japan and Sweden	7225.40.00 7225.99.00
Resealable Can End Closures (PDF 159KB)	India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore	8309.90.00
Rod in Coil (PDF 177KB)	Taiwan and China	7213.91.00 7227.90.90
Silicon Metal (PDF 189KB)	China	2804.69.00
Steel Reinforcing Bar (PDF 440KB)	Korea, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan and China	7214.20.00 7228.30.90 7213.10.00 7227.90.90 7227.90.10 7228.30.10 7228.60.10
Tomatoes, Prepared or Preserved (PDF 367KB)	Italy	2002.10.00
Wind Towers (PDF 189KB)	China, Korea	7308.20.00 7308.90.00 8502.31.10
Zinc Coated (Galvanised) Steel (PDF 667KB)	China, Korea and Taiwan	7210.49.00 7212.30.00 7225.92.00 7226.99.00

We wish to bring to your attention important key elements of Certificates of origin issued form China. The following is a list that you need to make your suppliers aware could invalidate Certificates issued rendering it unacceptable for customs clearance purposes requiring the payment of import duty.

The HS code in section 9 must be to 6 digits.

There must be a HS code for all items on commercial invoice you cannot group all items under one HS code.

If you are importing machinery you must have one HS code for that and any spare parts must be listed under their own HS code.

The origin criterion in section 10 you must ensure that your supplier has used the correct Rule of origin i.e.: WO , WP or PSR

There must be a numerical link in section 12

If there is a third party billing , the details must be provided in section 5 remarks column providing the invoice number or Purchase order number for goods shipped.

Could you please forward this onto all your suppliers and ensure that they comply with these conditions on order to have a valid Certificate of origin

Ocean Freight Rates from Far East Asia:

GPSM are pleased to advise all clients that we have negotiated reduced FCL rates for February 2017 shipments from Taiwan, Korea, China and Hong Kong.

As all will be aware the rates had remained at quite high levels leading up to the earlier than usual Chinese New Year period. It is expected that traffic volumes will reduce in February as many factories will take some time to gear-up again for production after the holiday close-down.

The updated rates have been added to our web rate portal and are available on “Freight Calculator” or View Rates modules.

Please also be aware that we have starting receiving advices from shipping lines that they intend to increase rates again from 1st March 2017, this is a standard procedure to ensure they are covered for regulatory rate filing 30 days in advance of implementation date, they are quoting increases of USD 300.00/20ft and USD 600.00/40ft container, however it is generally the market that will determine the increment closer to the effective date.

GPSM will keep all clients advised of further developments in due course.

Trucking Detention Rates in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle:

Trucking companies in above listed cities have advised of an increase in waiting time charges once the free allowance time period has expired.

Effective from 1st February, the rates will increase by $ 10.00 per truck hour for both standard and side-loader trailers deliveries. The detention rates have remained fixed for the past 5 years without any increases in this period.

As all deliveries in Sydney are handled by GPSM own trucking fleet, we are pleased to advise that current detention rates will remain unchanged for all Sydney FCL deliveries.

We indicated in our last Newsflash that it was expected that lines would increase rates from Far East Asian ports to Australia in January, 2017, in a “last-ditched” effort to gain as much income as possible prior to the Chinese New Year shutdown.

The initial indications were that a General Rate Increase of USD 500.00/20ft and USD 1000.00/40ft container would be implemented, however the increases applied are more in the range of USD 250.00/20ft and USD 500.00/40ft container.

GPSM have been working closely with the lines in an effort to minimise the cost increases and we have been very successful in reducing the impact from many ports.

Some carriers have proven difficult to deal with as space is also at a premium for January shipments, the lines take the attitude they can auction the space to the highest bidder, it is a seller’s market in their eyes at present. GPSM are fortunate that we have space allocations with some carriers that are generally honoured without question so we are able to avoid the space auction scenario in most cases.

The new rates are currently being updated to our web rate portal and we are keeping a very close eye on developments, we shall keep all clients informed on any developments as soon as we have further information.

A reminder that space for January is extremely tight so early bookings are essential to ensure all shipments depart prior to the Chinese New Year shutdown.

Please note that Northern China (Xingang and Qingdao) and Eastern China (Shanghai and Ningbo) ports have been adversely affected by heavy fog resulting in a large number of vessels being delayed in berthing and discharging/loading at these ports.

It is expected that some vessels may arrive in Australia later than planned per original sailing schedules as a result of the delays in China.
It I also possible that some vessels may not make their connections at the transhipment ports of Hong Kong, Singapore and Port Klang.

Our Customer Service Team will keep you updated on departure and arrival dates via Communicater messaging as usual.

Further to our earlier Newsflashes/Newsletters on rates applicable from Far East Asia to Australia, we are pleased to advised that our main carrier (COSCO) has extended their current rate levels until 31/12/16 without any increases. Some other lines have made some adjustments to rates for December shipments but most are minimal.

There is however talk of a further General Rate Increase being applied from 1^st January 2017, this will be the last “money grab” by lines prior to Chinese New Year, and while we do not believe the GRI will be implemented at the advertised level of USD 500.00/20ft and USD 1000.00/40ft, there is the possibility of a mitigated increase being applied.

All vessels are departing at maximum capacity at present and this is expected to continue into the New Year as China factories try to move all possible cargo prior to the CNY close down. We expect lines will use this to their advantage during this period.

We shall keep you updated on developments as we approach the Xmas/New Year period, any rate adjustments that were made by lines for December shipment have all been updated to the GPSM rate module on our website.

There has been a builds up of traffic transiting Singapore and Port Klang to all Australian ports over the past four (4) weeks.

Higher than anticipated volumes from Far East Asia, South East Asia, Europe and USA in the November peak period have led to a large backlog of containers sitting in the transhipment ports awaiting connection to Australian destinations.

All lines are currently experiencing delays and roll-overs to later vessels as the capacity to move the large volume of containers is simply not available on the Australian trade lane.

At worst, we are generally experiencing a delay of 7 days on our traffic, some other carriers (not supported by GPSM) are advising delays of up to 2-3 weeks in these transhipment ports.

The most affected port appears to be Adelaide, purely due to the lack of carriers that call at that port.

Rest assured that the GPSM team are working extremely hard in liaising with our preferred carriers to ensure earliest uplift of all transhipment containers.

Please be aware that there are possible delays expected at Singapore for transhipment cargo destined for Australia. We are giving you a “heads up” on the situation as of today, we have noted some traffic from China particularly to Fremantle and Adelaide are facing some delays in Singapore port on some shipping lines.

This situation has been created by peak season traffic volumes, and the collapse of Hanjin Line, where thousands of container slots and vessels have been lost to the trade. In the last week there has been a large volume of traffic from South East Asia, Far East Asia, Europe, UK and USA transiting Singapore port and the volumes involved have quickly created a backlog.

We would expect the delays to continue for the next 2-3 weeks and suggest that everyone takes this situation into account when planning new shipments.

GPSM will keep you updated on further developments as soon as further information is available.