Changes to Australian Border Force Customs Group structure

Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) continues to work closely with industry and whole-of-government partners to respond to COVID-19. In this context, members are advised of the following changes to the Australian Border Force (ABF).
 
Customs Group is working to ensure Australia's customs and border policy settings support the efficient movement of legitimate goods across the border and for prohibited goods to be stopped. In February 2020, 120 customs compliance officers joined Customs Group from Operations Group. The operational expertise of our new colleagues is reinforcing Customs Group's policy strengths. This expanded remit and the re-focusing of work to address COVID-19 has required structural changes to Customs Group.
 
Trade Modernisation and Industry Engagement Branch will become Customs and Border Modernisation Branch to reflect the broad scope of the ABF's border modernisation efforts. The Branch is led by Assistant Secretary Ineke Redmond and will continue to lead engagement with Australian industry on trade-related issues during the COVID-19 response. COVID-19 highlights the need for continued modernisation of our border, and industry is helping to prioritise urgent changes during the crisis. Work on advancing border modernisation will include establishing a taskforce to deliver a roadmap for an enhanced trade single window.
 
Traveller Branch led by Assistant Secretary Alice Stanley, together with Home Affairs colleagues and partner agencies, has been leading the ABF policy response on the new measures for travellers in response to COVID-19. Engagement with maritime, offshore oil and gas, cruise ships and aviation stakeholders on the operational and workforce impacts of the measures has been a critical part of this work. The Industry Engagement Section will shortly join the Branch, which will become the Traveller Policy and Industry Engagement Branch. The Branch will continue to deliver key industry engagement forums including the annual Industry Summit and drive the traveller modernisation agenda.
 
Trusted Trader and Trade Services Branch will become Trusted Trader and Trade Compliance Branch. The Branch is led by Acting Assistant Secretary Ben Nicholls and provides trade services and compliance functions that support the movement of critical cargo and trade across the Australian border. The Branch also maintains responsibility for the ATT Programme, specialist trade services, customs licensing and trade compliance functions.
 
Customs and Border Revenue Branch will become Customs and Trade Policy Branch. The Branch is led by Assistant Secretary Matthew Duckworth and will continue to drive critical policy, legislative and regulatory initiatives for managing the import and export of goods, including for the COVID-19 response. Additional responsibilities will include providing strategic policy for engagement with the World Customs Organization (WCO), the Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) and the Asia-Europe Meetings (ASEM) and advancing Australian Trusted Trader (ATT) Mutual Recognition Arrangements with overseas customs agencies.
 
There are no changes to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Branch led by Assistant Secretary David Brightling. The Branch will continue to drive Australia's whole-of-government work to combat modern slavery and lead engagement with industry to support businesses to understand their obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2018. This will include providing guidance to industry on how to report under the Modern Slavery Act 2018 in light of the impacts of COVID-19, and ways to support workers in their operations and supply chains, recognising that the current crisis heightens vulnerabilities to modern slavery practices. The Branch will also continue to progress key government priorities to develop the next National Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery 2020-24 and provide funding to anti-slavery organisations. The international capacity building work the Branch delivers to strengthen responses to human trafficking in the Indo-Pacific will be temporarily pared back as COVID-19 has disrupted engagement with partner countries. 

Sal Milici - Head of Border & Biosecurity  FTA / APSA