Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) have received an invitation from the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee to make a submission to the Illegal Logging Prohibition Amendment (Strengthening Measures to Prevent Illegal Timber Trade) Bill 2024 [Provisions].
The bill amends the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act 2012 to:- enable testing of timber products at the Australian border and beyond to ensure non-compliant, illegally logged timber is not imported;
- introduce a requirement for importers and processors to give notice before importing or processing regulated timber products;
- add strict liability offences, injunctions and enforceable undertakings to enforcement powers; enable audits to be carried out to determine compliance with the due diligence requirements;
- extend the time frame for issuing infringement notices to 24 months and enable the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) to publish details of contraventions on their website.
Full correspondence from the Committee Secretary is available HERE
SUBMISSIONS
The committee has invited submissions addressing some or all of the bill's provisions by Friday, 31 May 2024. To incorporate your views into the FTA / APSA submission, please provide feedback to Bianca Flint at bflint@FTAlliance.com.au by Wednesday 29 May 2024.
PARLIAMENT OF AUSTRALIA
Further information about the bill is available HERE
E-UPDATE
DAFF has produced a special edition e-update providing progress of the bill - refer HERE
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)
Those members that have attended the FTA CPD Border Compliance Program events in Sydney on 3 and 4 May 2024 and Perth on 11 May heard from DAFF senior officers present on Illegal Logging, BSMSB and cargo operational reforms
BMSB Treatments - Steve Peios presentation HERE
Illegal Logging - Julie Solorzano presentation HERE
Import clearance reforms & initiatives - Ben Rowntree presentation HERE
We encourage members to register for our upcoming FTA CPD Border Compliance Program events in Melbourne on 31 May and 1 June 2024 and Brisbane on 12 June 2024 to hear key messages and interact with DAFF representatives
Full program and registration available HERE
Sal Milici - Licensed Customs Broker
General Manager Trade Policy & Operations - FTA / APSA