Direct EFT payments by Importers

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

I spent this week in Canberra where, among other meetings, I met with:

Michael Outram, former Australian Border Force Commissioner (pictured below), who recently authored the paper Beyond the checkpoint: Managing Australia's border as a strategic economic and national security asset; and
senators and advisers leading the Senate Committee inquiry into Productivity in Australia (pictured below with Senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah).

BORDER SECURITY - PIGGY BACK CONSIGNMENTS

While the primary focus of our advocacy centred on stevedore and empty container park Terminal Access Charges, container detention practices, and the need to repeal Part X of the Competition and Consumer Act, senators also expressed strong interest in border security matters.

In particular, there was keen discussion around mainstream and trade media references to so-called "piggyback" consignments.

DIRECT EFT PAYMENTS BY IMPORTERS

As outlined in our member notice dated 12 November 2025, I reiterated our recommendation that the Australian Border Force (ABF) restrict the ability of customs brokerages to make EFT payments of duty and/or GST on behalf of client importers.

Under this proposal, cargo owners would instead be required to provide their banking details directly to the ABF. The importer would then receive notification of any proposed debit and would be able to report on what appears to be an attempt to import illicit goods, materially reducing opportunities for identity theft and the misuse of legitimate importer details to facilitate piggyback illegal importations.

Importantly, this would largely prevent impacts on importers inadvertently affected by piggyback consignments, negating the need to recover associated costs and mitigating reputational impacts.

A key advantage of this proposal is that it can be implemented without any changes to the Integrated Cargo System (ICS).

To address potential complexity in the air cargo express environment, this approach could be trialled initially in the sea cargo environment, which appears to be more commonly targeted for piggyback shipments.

NEXT STEPS

Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) will continue its close engagement with the ABF and the Senate with a focus on a new inquiry into illegal tobacco referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for report by 30 June 2026 - refer Illegal tobacco crisis in Australia.

In the interim, we will watch next week's Senate Estimates hearings with interest, as the government and public service are held to account against the backdrop of ongoing illegal tobacco importation and, following the Bondi tragedy, increased scrutiny of border security arrangements.

Paul Zalai - Director FTA | Secretariat APSA