Report - Final Industry Engagement - Licensing Review

OVERVIEW
 
Since the Licensing Review was announced in 2015, overwhelming concerns raised by our customs broker members centred around whether licensing will continue into the future. Importantly, this concern has also been shared by our growing number of importer members who rely on the professional services of customs brokers to maintain consistently high levels of compliance.
 
Despite submissions advocating for removal of individual licensing from one industry representative body, indications are that the position advocated by Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and other peak bodies is likely to prevail with the licensing of both individual and corporate customs brokers to continue for the foreseeable future.
 
FINAL ENGAGEMENT
 
On Friday 20 January 2017, Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) joined industry and government representatives in Canberra at the Licensing Review meeting hosted by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) -  this being the final industry engagement prior to DIBP releasing draft recommendations in early March and the production of a final report to be presented to the Comptroller-General by 31 March 2017.
 
Key points coming out of the meeting include:
 
Depot and Warehouse licensing – two concepts: 

• Combining Sec 77G and Sec 79 Licensing – whilst we saw merit in this in terms of the treatment of "time-up" cargo (allowing a Sec 77G to hold cargo for extended periods of time), the FTA position was that any reform must safeguard against adding additional requirements / costs to existing Sec 77G depots in order to meet the requirements of the Australian Taxation Office in dealing with Sec 79 warehouses.

• Streamlined licensing process – much of the day's proceedings centred around the concept of allowing businesses with multiple establishments to have a single licence – in effect, instead of having a licence per establishment, one licence would be created per entity with multiple appendices. FTA sees marginal efficiency gains only coming from this reform. FTA shared the view with other industry representatives that should this change be implemented that a sanction against one establishment must not affect the status or operations of other establishments. FTA supported a suggestion that perhaps the same efficiency outcomes could be achieved via an improved online registration process that could simply pre-populate common data across licence applications from the same entity.  

 
National Customs Brokers Licensing Advisory Committee (NCBLAC) – FTA supports continuation of the committee in its advisory role to the Comptroller General / Delegate and its structure of an independent chair, DIBP and industry representative. The only variation sought was that industry bodies, including FTA, have input into the selection of the industry representative.
 
Structure of customs broker licensing – there was debate whether there would be merit in introducing a "provisional" licence upon completion of the approved course of study followed by a process to ensure the applicant obtains "acquired experience" to progress to a full customs broker licence. This was seen as potentially creating additional "red tape" and complexity whilst others saw it as a practical step towards bringing in a new generation of licensed customs brokers. As outlined in our formal submission, this concept is supported by many FTA members and we trust that DIBP will give the concept further consideration.
 
We again commend DIBP for their extensive industry engagement and look forward to positive reforms resulting from the review.
 
Paul Zalai – Director, FTA