OPINION: Legislation proposed for the construction of the ABF’s “regulatory sandbox”
MANY of you would be aware that one of my professional dreams is for the Customs Act 1901 to be replaced with a new version written to modern regulatory standards. Those affected...
INSIGHT: GST on low-value imports held to account
MANY of those in industry will remember the controversy that was associated with the introduction of GST on “low value import transactions” (LVT) on consignments three years ago....
INSIGHT: Don’t worry – Olympic medals aren’t subject to import duty
ONLY a trade lawyer nerd who also happens to be a sports tragic would start to think about whether customs duty or GST are payable on Olympic medals when brought back into...
INSIGHT: Senate to look at forced labour-produced imports
CONCERNS for human rights have manifested themselves in many ways over the course of many years and led to a range of responses over that time, whether by unilateral national...
BUDGET: What’s in it for industry
THE COVID-19 pandemic has created many unusual outcomes. One of those was the delay of the May 2020 Australian Federal Budget until October 2020 which included a series of...
LETTER TO THE DCN: New biosecurity penalties bill could increase risk to importers
THE INTRODUCTION into Parliament of the Biosecurity Amendment (Strengthening Penalties) Bill on 18 February 2021 has the potential to significantly increase the risk profile for...
ANALYSIS: Upgraded trade deal with Pacific Islands
THE RELATIONSHIP between Australia and some of our Pacific Island neighbours has become controversial in recent time, largely focussed on differing views on Australia’s climate...
INSIGHT: Australia joins RCEP
RECENT news on the international trade stage has been less than optimistic – especially for those Australian exporters who are held up by ongoing Chinese trade bans on some of our...
COMMENT: Congestion and other charges choking trade at Port Botany
IT SEEMS counterintuitive but even as Australia struggles out of recession and pandemic, a number of lines have determined that the state of services through Port Botany require...
COMMENT: Commonwealth moves to rein in agreements
THE AUSTRALIAN Commonwealth Constitution has an interesting history including its development through a series of Constitutional Conventions between representative of state...
OPINION: Start of new Indonesian Free Trade deal to be a bright spot in our trade agenda
ONE of the major tasks for governments around the world are to adopt measures which may assist business to recover and thrive as they plan to move out of COVID – 19 restrictions....
COMMENT: New Australian export controls on goods during the COVID – 19 crisis
FURTHER to the update last week, the government has now moved to impose export controls on “COVID – 19” goods during the present “human biosecurity period”. The Australian Border...
COMMENT: Controls on exports during Covid-19
THERE have been suggestions the federal government, through the Australian Border Force was proposing to control exports of certain items of high demand during the Covid-19 crisis...
TRADE LAW: High Court rules on “Vita gummies” and “Garcinia weight”
WE HAVE previously written at length on decisions of the AAT, or State or Federal Courts on the classification of goods for customs purposes. The classification of goods is a...
OPINION: China catches a coronavirus and global trade may get very ill
AS I write this article, news of the spread of the “coronavirus” becomes worse on a regular basis. According to current media nearly 60 million people in China’s largest cities...
