Smuggling, ‘piggybacking’ and a history of government intervention in the supply chain
THERE is a long history of government intervention in the international supply chain undertaken for a variety of reasons, whether related to the conduct of war, recovery of...
TRADE LAW: Trade 2040 - navigating turbulence
THE INTERNATIONAL supply chain has been subject to some serious recent challenges including the insolvency of a major shipping line, the COVID-19 pandemic, closures of shipping...
ACFS insolvency issues create confusion and supply chain risk
PARTIES in the commercial world have been exposed to insolvency, which has increased and unsurprisingly spread to the international supply chain. As a consequence, they likely...
TRADE LAW: DFAT unveils report of the Trade 2040 Taskforce
ON 29 June 2026, DFAT convened an event at Parliament House to announce the release of the report by its 2040 Trade Taskforce entitled Towards 2040: Navigating Australia’s Trading...
TRADE LAW: US tariffs continue to create uncertainty for Australian trade
ONCE upon a time, there was hope that the world was working towards a rule‑based, multilateral trading system in which customs tariffs on imported goods were being reduced as part...
TRADE LAW: Gazing into the crystal ball
TRADITIONALLY, the Federal Government releases its federal budget for the forthcoming financial year in May each year. It is a “whole of Government” document which includes a...
TRADE LAW: Modern slavery risks in trade
ON SEVERAL occasions, I have written and presented on the importance of modern slavery issues in the supply chain, as part of wider concerns to address environmental and social...
TRADE LAW: Australian ports and landside charges
The operations of the landside part of the supply chain are vital as they are how containers and other cargo (cleared by the border agencies) are moved from vessels at the port by...
.png)
OPINION: Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the beef export market
The announcement by the Chinese government on 1 January 2026 that it was imposing new import quota limits on imports of beef into China differs to the previous ban on imports of...
TRADE LAW: Organised crime and the supply chain
Looking at serious and organised crime in Australia and its impact on the supply chain THERE has been significant media coverage of the existence of serious and organised crime...
TRADE LAW: Improving the Australian container port experience
THE RECENT release of the “Container Port Performance index 2020 to 2024” by the World Bank Group (CPPI) prepared by S&P Global has triggered significant attention. According to...
TRADE LAW: The US suspends 'de minimis' concessions for commercial consignments
AUSTRALIA'S experience in dealing with de minimis transactions has been complicated by the recent abolition of the equivalent US process for commercial consignments on 29 August...
TRADE LAW: INCOTERMS® - A companion to your international trade agreements
Co-authored by Brighid Virtue* AS READERS may know, International Commercial Terms (Incoterms®) are a set of eleven standardised contractual terms published by the International...
TRADE LAW: POTUS has spoken – US “Reciprocal Tariffs” finalised... For now!
THE REST of the world has been waiting with some trepidation for the announcement of “final” reciprocal tariffs which the US proposed to impose on goods exported from countries on...
INSIGHT: Australia lifts restrictions on US beef
Trade law specialist and regular DCN contributor Andrew Hudson provides clarity on today's decision by the Australian federal government to remove restrictions on US beef imports...
