AFIF COUNTRY REPORT

Transcription

1 AUSTRALIAN FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL FORWARDERS Ltd. AFIF COUNTRY REPORT For presentation to Delegates attending the 35th FAPAA E.C.M., Tokyo Japan April 25 26, 2008 A. Current AFIF Board of Directors elected November 2007 and relevant portfolio responsibilities. Chairman: Fritz HEINZMANN Director Victoria, SA, WA & Seafreight Deputy Chairman: Paul GOLLAND Director NSW & Airfreight Schenker Australia, Melbourne Halford International, Sydney Directors: Paul ANGEL Director, Govt Affairs (incl Customs & Quarantine) Chris JENSEN Director, Customs, Air & Sea matters Robert KASCH Director Queensland & Airfreight Stuart McFARLANE Director, Customs matters Elton McKAY Director, Seafreight Jackie McCOMBIE Director, Seafreight Jim MERRIGAN Director Education and Social Functions Mark WILLIS Director, IT / E-Commerce Lynair Interntional (Australia), Sydney Geodis Wilson, Sydney DHL Global Forwarding, Brisbane, Yusen Air & Sea Service, Sydney Accord Logistics, Sydney Globelink Intl, Melbourne Maltacourt, Sydney ACM Ambassador, Sydney

2 The past year has been a continuing ongoing challenge for our industry and together with a variety of air and seafreight matters, plus the continued efforts to embrace the changes implemented in the Import phase of the new Customs Integrated Cargo System (ICS), it has certainly been a challenging period once again! Our active representation on core air and seafreight matters continues strongly and this report highlights some specific matters of relevance to airfreight activities. i) Understanding Trade Practice Compliance Due to the global impact of various 'anti-trust' regulatory authorities examining company records of many airlines and the flow-on effect to the forwarding industry worldwide, AFIF arranged to deliver briefing sessions on this and related subjects to our members during February 08. The aim was to assist members to understand the issues and legislation relating to Competition Law and what constitutes matters such as collusion and price-fixing; making 'arrangements'; abuse of market power; misleading and deceptive conduct, to name but a few. Members heard from a leading trade practice lawyer and were able to ask questions in order to help understand these issues to remain compliant within the TP laws in the conduct of their business and external activities. Following these sessions, the following advice was prepared for our members by the lawyer: THE "GOLDEN RULES" OF TRADE PRACTICES LAW Below are some "Golden Rules" to help assist freight forwarders comply with Trade Practices law. COMPETITION RULES Do not discuss or make arrangements about prices, discounts, rebates, or any other aspect of your prices with competitors. Any agreement or arrangement with competitors about prices you charge in competition with each other is "price fixing" and is prohibited. Don t make deals with competitors about how you will compete. For example, don t talk to competitors or make arrangement with them about: who you are going to supply services to or acquire goods or services from; where or what you are going to supply; the terms on which you will supply goods or services you will be supplying or acquiring. Agreements between competitors about the terms on which they will supply or acquire goods or services in competition with one another are prohibited. Don t force another company s products on your customers. It is illegal to offer a customer a particular deal on condition that they acquire something else from a third person. 2

3 For instance, you must not offer a freight forwarding service on the condition that the customer also obtain insurance through a particular insurance broker. Be careful of entering into deals that might reduce competition Agreements that lessen competition in a market overall are prohibited. If you think an agreement or arrangement may lessen competition, seek advice. A company with substantial power in a market must not use that power to try to: keep a competitor out of a market; prevent a potential competitor from entering a market; or teach a competitor "to behave". RULES ABOUT UNFAIR PRACTICES Be honest. It is illegal to engage in conduct that is likely to mislead or deceive anyone you do business with. Provide all information that you would expect to receive if you were the person receiving the information. Treat people fairly. It is illegal to engage in unconscionable conduct. Conduct yourself so that you would not be uncomfortable if your conduct were to appear on the front page of the national newspapers. The rules are provided by AFIF as a guide to help members to identify high risk conduct that may breach the Trade Practices Act. They do not constitute legal advice and, of course, in one page it is not possible for this guide to be comprehensive. If you re not sure if something may breach the Trade Practices Act, seek advice! ii) Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) review of IATA: status update and possible impact for industry. The ACCC granted the time extension requested by IATA for the Cargo Agency Program (CAP) component of the review of IATA authorisations until the 30th of November This was widely supported by AFIF and industry. IATA had advised the ACCC that it was their understanding that all anti-competitive elements had been removed from the existing CAP and that it would not require immunity from Trade Practice Laws in Australia. IATA then needed to conduct a postal vote amongst IATA airline members to gain approval for the proposal submitted to the ACCC. That postal vote was conducted and IATA members voted unanimously in favour of the new CAP. As part of the proposal, CASS would remain albeit with the possibility of flexible credit arrangements. This last aspect needs to be monitored and we may at some point in the future hear of grievances in this regard. As the extension of Authorisation subsequently lapsed, the new program took effect as of December 1 st, 2007 and has no immunity from relevant aspects of the Trade Practices Act. 3

4 iii) IATA Resolution 600B: Changes to the IATA Airwaybill. IATA Resolution 600b (as amended) was approved and granted anti-trust immunity by the US Department of Transportation (DoT) on 20 September As this was the last hurdle facing the changes, IATA recommended that the globally effective date of the new IATA AWB would be 17 March From this date all existing stocks of IATA neutral AWB s were to be replaced and in Australia, IATA prepared for this change and new stock was made available in time. Of note, Qantas has permitted Forwarders to continue to use old stock for an, as yet, unspecified period. Any claim arising from the effective date of March 17 would defer to the new conditions, irrespective of which MAWB was used. AFIF conducted member information sessions across Australia early in 2008, in conjunction with law firm Blake Dawson, who also provided written guidance in regard to the changes. iv) IATA E-Freight Project overview and opportunity for Australia. Australia is ready and willing to participate in the second round of pilots planned for the project during AFIF representatives are members of a local IATA E-Freight project committee. At this time, we are waiting for a meeting with IATA in April to discuss the participation process for Australia. v) Aircargo Security. a. AFIF & CBFCA RACA Aviation security joint training project Further to our advice to members a short time ago, AFIF and CBFCA have been accredited as a Quality Assured Training provider for the new Regulated Air Cargo Agent Security Training Framework (RACASTF). The new training regime commenced on January 1st, More about this and other training initiatives is contained in the AFIF Training and Education Report for the FAPAA meeting. b. Customs Supply Chain Security Program The Australian Government through the Australian Customs Service (ACS) are developing and propose to introduce, later in 2008, a Supply Chain Security Project, which will include approval of the equivalent of the EU 'Authorised Economic Operators' (AEO s). The framework for this project and the principles have been developed by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and are being introduced progressively on a global basis. This concept is all about 'end-to-end' security and 'trade facilitation'. It is designed to allow continuous movement of cargo by low-risk operators in the event of trade embargoes implemented due to terrorist activity in certain places. It will be similar to the current US government C-TPAT program. Whilst this model is not planned to be implemented into Australia until 2008, much of the work has been prepared during

5 vi) Approach to ATO & Treasury re application of GST in DDP/DDU and export We are still tackling the problem of how the GST law has recently been interpreted in regard to DDU/DDP import shipments and also the treatment of exports. A major submission on behalf of all industry participants was lodged with Treasury and the ATO in late 2006 and a number of meetings and discussions held since that time. Treasury and the ATO are currently considering the recommendations made. vii) Committees and Boards There are many other issues being handled at any one time and AFIF executives and representatives are necessarily active on many committees and Boards. The following is a summary of the major National and International external Committees:- Customs National Consultative Committee (CNCC): The peak body for discussion between Customs and Industry on facilitation issues. Cargo Processing Executive Steering Committee (CPESC): Committee formed by the CEO of Customs, to drive specific trade facilitation and electronic commerce initiatives. Tradegate Board: Tradegate is a not-for-profit value added network provider specialising in the trade and transport industry. Peter McNamara (Immediate-past AFIF Chairman and Fritz Heinzmann, (current AFIF chairman) represent AFIF interests in the Forwarder; Customs Broker and Depot operator interests. AQIS & Industry Cargo Consultative Committee (AICCC): The peak body for consultation between AQIS and our Industry. AFIF representatives also participate in the many sub-groups as a member of the Industry Working Group on Quarantine (IWGQ). IATA Cargo Executive Council:- AFIF has three representatives on the 5 person industry committee who meet with IATA and their Airline members to discuss IATA Resolutions and Agency Accreditation matters. This group is also overseeing the ACCC review of IATA. Dept of Infrastructure and Transport Cargo Security Working Group:- This group meets to review requirements in regard to the Australian Government Aviation Security Program. Australian Dangerous Goods Air Transport Council Industry body representing movers of Dangerous Goods. This body meets with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on a quarterly basis. 5

6 FIATA: AFIF, now through an umbrella organisation: the Federation of International Forwarders and Customs Brokers of Australia ( FIFCBA ), is a full member. The various forums discuss ways in which to standardise worldwide Forwarding practices. AFIF representative and member, Barry Vining, was recently re-elected at the World Congress in Dubai as Vice President, Asia-Pacific Region. viii) Other activities: IATA Publications AFIF is an official IATA Publications Distribution partner and provides Australian shippers and forwarders with various manuals including the IATA Dangerous Goods procedures manual.. Margins are channelled into benefits on behalf of the membership and to keep member fees as low as possible. AFIF Training Program There has been much activity in our training program, both in terms of student numbers and in planning for the future needs of our industry members. These will be covered in our separate training report. AFIF 2008 Conference Gold Coast Planning for the conference program is well advanced and we have finalised the program content and speakers. Amongst our staple content, the program will also include an interactive session aimed at promoting discussion in regard to the perceived differences in the work ethos of the so-called Y Generation. We have invited a highly recommended professional speaker to introduce this topic and a panel of key industry personnel will join the discussion, including a person from the Y Generation selected by an industry-wide competition, who will attend and participate at our cost. Finally, AFIF continues to hold discussions with the Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia (CBFCA) to work on common industry initiatives and to progress the intention of working towards a single representative body for our industry. These are the main items we believe may be of interest to our FAPAA colleagues for our report. We are happy to take any questions on aircargo issues affecting Australia either before or during the meeting. Brian Lovell Chief Executive Officer Australian Federation of International Forwarders Ltd 6