Brokers key to preventing ciggie piggybacking, says FTA

CUSTOMS brokers should be granted a special position as authorities seek to prevent "piggybacking" by importers of illegal tobacco through Australian ports, the Freight Trade Alliance says.

The FTA and its affiliated Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) have made four key recommendations to government on this topic. 

In a joint formal submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the FTA said they would like to see customs brokers, as Australian Border Force license holders, held in a "privileged position' by the ABF for reporting suspicious imports.  

FTA general manager trade policy and operations, Sal Milici, said the main purpose of their submission was to raise awareness of the impact illegal tobacco has on their members. 

"Quite often, they (customs brokers) think they're doing the right thing, and they will outlay the charges to the shipping line or another freight forwarder, and they 'get caught holding the bags' so to speak when the goods are seized by border force," Mr  Milici said. 

"The illegal importers will catch wind that something's up and they'll just abandon (the shipment) and disappear.

"It's not going to solve (the problem) by any means, but if we can make it a bit harder (for illegal importers), then everyone wins."

The recommendations are: 

1) for sea cargo import consignments, implement a direct payment model for duty and GST whereby cargo owners provide their banking details directly to the Australian Border Force, reducing financial reliance on intermediaries and the risk of identity theft.  

2) the Australian Border Force to convene a targeted industry roundtable with key stakeholders, including stevedores, shipping lines and peak industry bodies, to develop a more consistent and transparent framework for managing the 
downstream impacts of cargo interventions

3) ensure appropriate Australian Border Force resourcing, commensurate to the volume of targeted import consignments to maintain both the effectiveness of enforcement activities and the efficient flow of legitimate trade 

4)  the BorderWatch program to be reformed, restoring a model of trusted engagement between industry and Australian Border Force (ABF) officers.

The first recommendation would force illegitimate importers to process payments, which would make it "impossible" to impersonate a legal importer, Mr  Milici said.

"Piggybacking is the big problem, and that's where illegal organisations purport to be a legitimate importer," he said.

"They'll use technology like a fake email address that makes it look like they are the actual business.

"What ends up happening is industry get caught up in handling a shipment of illegal tobacco."

The fourth recommendation for a "well-resourced" BorderWatch scheme was also key for the FTA.

"Now (BorderWatch program) has been really scaled back and it's an online form you fill in, and you don't whether it's been received or if it's been actioned," Mr Milici said. 

He said customs brokers are "a special group of people" that are licensed by Australian Border Force. 

"Customs brokers should have a specific channel where they can say 'We think this is suspicious, we're reporting it' and get some quick feedback," Mr  Milici  said. 

"We think they'll be a lot of value in that."

The full submission can be viewed on the FTA website.