New Biosecurity Cost Recovery Charge on Self-Assessed Clearance (SAC) Declarations ***UPDATE***

As announced by the Australian Government as a key element of its 2023-24 Budget Biosecurity Sustainable Funding measures, a new biosecurity cost recovery charge will commence from 1 July 2024 – referred to as the Biosecurity Self Assessed Clearance (SAC) Charge.

The charge will cover the direct and indirect costs incurred by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) in managing biosecurity risk associated with this pathway, consistent with the Australian Government Charging Framework and cost-recovery guidelines. The nature of these costs mirror those currently recovered through the existing FID biosecurity charge.

The Biosecurity Self Assessed Clearance (SAC) Charge rate will be:

• reviewed and indexed annually, consistent with other biosecurity fees and charges;
• be established by regulation under the Biosecurity Charging Imposition/Biosecurity Act 2015; and
• be reported on through an annual biosecurity cost recovery implementation statement (BCRIS), published on the DAFF website, and through the Department of Agriculture Cargo Consultative Committee (DCCC).

Application and penalty provisions relating to the charge include:

• continuity of existing biosecurity fee for service arrangements e.g. inspection fees, will continue to apply (as applicable); and
• penalties and sanctions in line with existing cost recovery charge provisions in the Biosecurity Act 2015 and related regulations and the department's charging guidelines.

In summary, the new  charge will:

• commence on 1 July 2024;
• be administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) -  the charge will not include Australian Border Force (ABF) costs nor will it be collected by the ABF;
• be applied to any reporting party who lodges (makes) a Self Assessment Clearance (SAC) declaration in the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) creating a liability to pay the charge (this includes cargo report and short/long form SACs); 
• be set at a rate to recover DAFF costs associated with biosecurity clearance arrangements for these items (estimated at $27 million in 2024-25) - the proposed legislative charge rate will be 36 cents per SAC declaration;
• be remitted directly to DAFF to entities making SAC declarations on a quarterly in arrears basis (the legal obligation will be quarterly remittance of aggregate SAC charge amount but can support monthly as an administrative arrangement – noting this may not be immediately available from 1 July 2024); and
• be exempt to an entity that makes less than 278 SAC declarations for a given quarterly period (accumulated charges totalling less than $100).

Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) recommend members: 

• update contact details - contact DAFF at SACcostrecovery@aff.gov.au;
• review internal systems - ensure the appropriate record keeping, and payment facilities are in place to track the number of SAC declarations made to understand quarterly liability in order to make payments directly to DAFF;
• establish revised business processes - DAFF have advised that liability is associated with the relevant transaction (import of goods covered by SAC declaration) meaning the associated costs can be collected at the time of the transaction or otherwise in line with commercial charging arrangements; and
• inform relevant stakeholders - ensure that your relevant internal and external stakeholders are aware of their responsibilities relating to the charge.

FTA will continue to provide updates on the Biosecurity Self Assessed Clearance (SAC) Charge in coming weeks in the lead up to the 1 July 2024 implementation.