News

Dear Clients, Our China partners have advised that several shipping lines have advised there could be a shortage of empty containers in China, particularly in Shanghai, in coming weeks. This is a result of the following factors: The export boom during Chinese New Year period. Recent congestion in the Yangtze River

Please be advised that the industrial action at the Patrick Terminal Port Botany is continuing. All slots have been cancelled until 16:00 today. The latest Terminal update has indicated “still no news on return to work”. GPSM has cleared all available containers prior to the stoppage. Patrick has arran

There is currently legislation in Parliament to consider passing a bill that will ensure that GST is payable on certain imports into Australia of low-value goods. If passed the legislation will commence on or after 1st July 2017 and will mean that “overseas vendors”, “Electronic distribution plat

For many Importers, searching for shipments or Purchase Orders on web based track and trace systems has always been done by using Purchase Order, Bill of Lading or Container numbers. Some Importers like to create a “shipment reference “ of their own once their PO’s become a shipment, however, up

Airfreight Fuel Surcharge from Hong Kong: Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) have advised that effective from 1st April, they will introduce a fuel surcharge of HKD 0.70/kg (approximately AUD 0.12/kg) for all freight moved on their services to all Australian destinations. The fuel charge will be based on the chargeable w

Further to our below Newsflash distributed earlier this month, please note the start date for the new Port Infrastructure Charge for Sydney has now been delayed until 17th April 2017. The deferred start date is a direct result of Industry Lobby Groups expressing their displeasure at the short notice of the impleme

Increased Port Charges Sydney and Melbourne: DP World (DPW) a major port operator in Sydney and Melbourne have announced they are implementing a “Port Infrastructure Charge” effective from 3rd April 2017 covering all import and export containers moving through both ports. Melbourne port already has an

Have you ever asked your Freight Forwarder or Customs Broker for a shipping quote, only to have to wait up to 48 hours for an outcome? According to a recent study conducted by Maritime Research Consulting and Financial Advisory Service, Drewry, Freight forwarders spend 24.4 million hours of labour a year to find a

All goods imported into Australia must be assigned a Customs value, even if they were provided free of charge. This includes gifts, bonus goods, samples, and promotional goods. The most common method for valuing any import is to use the ” Transaction Value”, which is the price the importer actually pai

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 acceptab