SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATION 1 (shipping competition review) – repeal of Part X of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, with retention of shipper collective bargaining provisions, leaving two options:

(1) foreign owned shipping lines to operate in line with competition laws faced by other businesses involved in Australian commerce; or
(2) if deemed necessary for foreign owned shipping lines to have ongoing protections, expand the role of the ACCC (or introduce a federal maritime regulator) to administer processes to safeguard exporter and importer's interests, in particular,  monitoring the appropriateness of shipping line (and contracted stevedore / empty container park) surcharges, fees and penalties.

RECOMMENDATION 2 (minimum service levels and notification periods) – introduction of an appropriate regulatory framework that provides exporters, importers and freight forwarders safeguards against 'exclusive dealings', ensuring minimum service levels and prescribed variation notification periods (minimum 30 day notice as per US regulation).

RECOMMENDATION 3 (infrastructure investment) – increase investment in infrastructure to address inefficiencies in the supply chain caused by larger ships, lack of rail access to Australian container ports and shortage of space in empty container parks. 

RECOMMENDATION 4 (regulation of Terminal Access Charges) – the scope of the National Transport Commission (NTC) review of Terminal Access Charges be expanded to examine the potential of regulation to force stevedores (and empty container parks) to cost recover directly against their commercial client (shipping line) rather than via third party transport operators.

RECOMMENDATION 5 (regulation of container detention practices) – the need for federal government action and potential regulation, similar to US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), to ensure reasonable container detention policies are administered.

RECOMMENDATION 6 (waterfront industrial relations reform) – the Federal Government to initiate a formal waterfront industrial relations review to provide immediate and future business continuity for what is an 'essential service' and our international gateway for major supply chains.

RECOMMENDATION 7 (implementation of Biosecurity reform priorities) – ongoing engagement and reporting between the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and industry to achieve the four reform priorities identified in the Inspector-General of Biosecurity (IGB) report Adequacy of department's operational model to effectively mitigate biosecurity risks in evolving risk and business environments being:

(1) Regulatory maturity;
(2) Risk pathway partnership;
(3) Frontline focus; and
(4) Sustainable funding model.
 
RECOMMENDATION 8 (extension of IFAM funding) – the Federal Government should allocate additional funds to maintain the International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) and / or similar financial relief measures to support the air cargo supply chain sector until the end of 2023 (at minimum), with actual allocation of funds subject to periodic reviews pending the return of international passenger flight services.