Author: GPSM

The Globe Mail reports that the U.S. Congress was able to pass a bill, in both Houses, and get it to the White House for Presidential signature before midnight, 30 September 2023.

The Globe article states:

The threat of a federal government shutdown suddenly lifted late Saturday as President Joe Biden signed a temporary funding bill to keep agencies open with little time to spare after Congress rushed to approve the bipartisan deal.

The Globe article goes on to state:

After chaotic days of turmoil in the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly abandoned demands for steep spending cuts from his right flank and instead relied on Democrats to pass the bill, at risk to his own job. The Senate followed with final passage closing a whirlwind day at the Capitol.

It should be noted that this bill only extends government funding to Friday 17 November 2023

US GOVERNMENT POTENTIAL SHUT DOWN DRAWS NEAR

IFCBAA has overnight been involved in communications with the NCBFAA (National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America) on this issue.

Both organisations have reciprocal organisation membership with each other, on behalf of their respective members.

Given the now high likelihood of a US Government shutdown this Sunday night (US ET), NCBFAA has issued a joint industry statement, which advocates for all US government agencies involved in international trade to remain open.

At this stage, it appears that an essential services policy may see a number of main border clearance processes in the US remain open, however the full scope of that situation applying across all relevant government agencies involved ininternational trade remains unclear, with high risks of stoppages and ongoing delays, being likely

Unless a surprise solution is agreed upon and rushed through today (Friday) US ET, then the NCBFAA is of the view that this impasse could possibly take several weeks for a resolution to be achieved.

This raises high prospects of significant disruption and delays being experienced in the servicing of cargo at major ports, airports and related precinct areas throughout the US from Sunday night.

Attachments:

Joint Trade Industry Statement Regarding a Potential Government Shut Down on October 1st.pdf

The Australian Government has extended the additional duty on goods that are the produce or manufacture of the Russian Federation (Russia) or Belarus for twenty four months to 24 October 2025.

The measure is temporary and the extension is a response to Russia’s continued illegal invasion of Ukraine and the continued support provided by Belarus for this invasion. The measure is necessary for the protection of Australia’s essential security interests. Russia’s actions, supported by Belarus, are a gross violation of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations. They violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and undermine the rules-based international order. Australia is committed to upholding these principles, which are essential to international, regional and domestic stability and security.

The removal of Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment previously accorded to goods imported from Russia and the increase in duty is in line with the increases imposed and maintained by the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada.

Attachments:ACN 2023_42 – Further extension of the additional customs duty on Russian and Belarusian goods

BMSB Season in NZ:

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has finalized the seasonal measures for the 2023-24 high risk season that commences on 1st September 2023 and runs until 30th April, 2024.

Effective sailing on or after the 1st September 2023, all target high risk cargo shipped from or via target risk countries must be treated by an approved treatment provider.

Full listing of countries and commodities are listed below. The measures remain consistent with the 2022-23 BMSB risk season.

For the 2023-24 BMSB risk season, measures will apply to:

Targeted goods shipped from target risk countries, and/or Vessels that berth at, load, or transship from target risk countries

• The BMSB risk season is for goods that have been shipped between 1 September 2023 and arrive into NZ before 30 April 2024 (inclusive), and vessels that berth, load or transship from target risk countries within the same period. High Risk Goods (Vehicles, Machinery, and Parts Thereof / VMP) must be treated for BMSB if moving within these dates.

New/Unused goods that have been stored exclusively indoors prior to export can be exempt from treatment requirements where a valid Manufacturer’s Declaration is provided. The template for this declaration is available on request from our team.

• Italy: All cargo shipping from or via Italy must be treated; this is not limited to VMP only.

There is a list of sensitive risk goods that an MPI CTO considers to be sensitive to treatment included below, these are the only commodities that may be imported from Italy without treatment.

The following countries have been categorised as target risk and VMP cargo will require mandatory treatment for BMSB:

 

ALBANIA	GERMANY	POLAND
ANDORRA	GREECE	PORTUGAL
ARMENIA	HUNGARY	ROMANIA
AZERBAIJAN	JAPAN	SERBIA
BELGIUM	KAZAKHSTAN	SLOVAKIA
BOSINA AND HERZEGOVINA		SLOVENIA
BULGARIA	KOSOVO	SPAIN
CANADA	LIECHTENSTEIN	SWITZERLAND
CROATIA	LUXEMBURG	TURKEY
CZECHIA	MOLDOVA	UKRAINE
FRANCE	MONTENEGRO	USA (excludes Alaska and Hawaii)
GEORGIA	NETHERLANDS	REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

 

Import Health Standard for Sea Containers from All Countries

Section 3.1.1 (3) Inspection

 

Under Section 2.3, Option B: a) an MPI Inspector may inspect sea containers and cargo instead of (fumigation or heat) treatment where:

1. The importer has notified MPI that the sea container contains cargo that the importer considers is sensitive and would be damaged by the treatments for Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) specified in the MPI Approved Biosecurity Treatments; and
2. An MPI Chief Technical Officer has determined that treatment may damage the cargo.

Sensitive risk goods

The list of sensitive risk goods that an MPI CTO considers to be sensitive to treatment are as follows:

• Agricultural compounds and veterinary medicines;
• Food for human consumption (including beverages);
• Food-grade packaging materials (such as thermal plastic film);
• Fresh produce;
• Frozen food products;
• Live animals;
• Leather goods (apparel and furniture)
• Pet food;
• Pharmaceutical products;
• Polyurethane bales and foam products;
• Refrigerated goods;
• Seed for sowing;
• Special Category Risk Goods (Chemical, Explosive, Mineral, Radioactive or Volatile);
• Tank-tainers and
• Textiles (including yarn).

Guidance: The intended coverage for Italian–origin “sensitive textiles” is intended to include clothing, fabric, other natural products such as finished furs, finished hides, processed leather, rayon, silk, and yarn/wool; and other textiles for making furniture that are sensitive to treatment required for the BMSB. This sensitive consideration can also cover raw unfinished products and unfinished furniture. This coverage excludes other industrial application products that do not meet the description of “sensitive textiles” as above. Note 1: In an importer’s MPI application for biosecurity clearance, importers must notify MPI in writing that the cargo is considered to be sensitive to treatment so that appropriate MPI intervention can be arranged. Failure of an importer to notify MPI of the sensitive nature of the sea container and cargo is likely to result in delays to biosecurity clearance being provided, or re-shipment or destruction of the sea container and cargo. Note 2: A sea container or risk goods that do not meet the requirements of an Import Health Standard will not be given biosecurity clearance under the Act. Such non-compliant risk goods will be directed by an MPI Inspector as per Section 122 of the Act for further action as considered appropriate to manage the biosecurity risks.

Service Disruptions from North East Asia:

Severe Typhoons in North East Asia have disrupted vessel departures from China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan over the last week to 10 days.

Most sailings from this area have been delayed by 3-4 days, hopefully the typoons have now passed and scheduling can get back to normal.

 

Svitzer Tug Services resolve Enterprise Agreement:

Svitzer Australia have announced that the new National Towage Enterprise Agreement (2023) has been approved by the Fair Work Commission. The new Agreement came into effect from late July 2023 and is valid for a four-year period through to July 2027.

Svitzer have made the following commentary:

“We look forward to building on the certainty and stability the approved agreement provides over the next four years, and to continue delivering our valued customers with leading maritime solutions and towage infrastructure.

 

Australian Port Charges:

Several shipping lines, including Yang Ming, Hyundai Line and OOCL Line, have advised that their Australian port charges will increase from today, 10th August, 2023.

The increases range between $ 20.00 and $ 40.00 per container and as usual GPSM will bill clients at cost.

New Zealand MPI Bio-Security Fee increase:

The Government has agreed to increase the Biosecurity System Entry Levy to $46.40 and to set a new maximum rate of $50.00.

The maximum rate is the highest amount the Director-General of MPI can set the levy without further Cabinet decisions. The Government has also agreed to increase the hourly rate for biosecurity fees to $155.50 per hour

Increased Booking Fees:

All Port Vehicle Booking Fees as well as empty container park fees will increase from 1st July, 2023 Australia wide to new rates of $ 75.00 and $ 135.00 per container respectively.

The ports and empty parks have all added extra fees to their booking requirements (including energy/power surcharges).

GPSM rates have been adjusted in the GPSM web portal accordingly.

Import DAFF Declaration Fees:

Australian AQIS office has announced an increase in Declaration Fees for Import Air and Sea shipments effective from 1st July, 2023.

Full air declarations will increase from $ 38.00 to $ 43.00 per shipment, while the fees for sea shipments will increase from $ 58.00 to $ 63.00.

Airline Handling Fees:

Air Cargo Terminal Operators have announced a further increase in their handling costs effective from 1st July, 2023.

The Airline Airway Bill fee will increase by $ 2.00 to $ 69.00/shipment and the Airline Transfer/Terminal Fees will increase by $ 0.02/kg to $ 0.69/kg.

The revised rates have been updated in the GPSM rates portal.

Shipping Line Results:

Shipping Line Q1 results showed EBIT dropped 81% year on year in 2023-Q1 to USD$7bn.

Indications of a market weakness emerged in the latter half of 2022, which fully materialized in 2023-Q1 with revenues experiencing a sharp decline of 35% to 70% year-over-year.

This trend is evident in the EBIT/TEU figures, as none of the shipping lines sustained their 2022-Q1 EBIT/TEU levels in 2023.

On average, the shipping lines recorded an EBIT/TEU of USD$330 in 2023-Q1, 81% down on the 2022-Q1 average of USD$1,829.

However it still surpasses the average of USD$53 between 2010 and 2021.

Import Rates from Asia:

Rates to Australia continue for July 2023 at almost record lows due to low volume of traffic moving.

It is the traditional Peak Season period in late July/early August however shipping lines are not expecting a huge increase on current volumes so we expect minimal rate increases in coming weeks.

The shipping lines have been working with their “blank sailing” model that has seen a large number of sailing cancellations to Australia over recent months saving lines on operating costs.

Shipping Line Services:

Sealead Line/Nautilus Line have recently cancelled their second leg service from Singapore/China to Indian Sub-Continent and Mediterranean ports despite only introducing the service earlier this year.

Their services to and from Australia to East and South East Asia are unaffected by the change.

BAL Lines, a new entrant into the China/Australia market have only operated one (1) service per month during May and June 2023, instead of their original weekly schedule, a true reflection of the soft market at present.

31 May 2023 has been announced as the date of entry into force of the much anticipated Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA).

During his visit to the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement noting that “The Australia-UK FTA represents one of the most comprehensive, innovative and ambitious free trade agreements concluded by Australia to date and strengthens an already close relationship between Australia and the UK.”

With the entry into force of this comprehensive agreement, there will be no tariffs on over 99 per cent of Australian goods exports to the UK and savings of approximately $200 million a year will be made as tariffs on imports from the UK are eliminated. After five years, all UK imports will enter Australia duty free.

More details to come in the following weeks.