FTA IN CANBERRA - ADVOCACY & INNOVATION - Terminal Access Charges, Biosecurity and Cyber preparedness

Craig Cowin (Member Representative - Border & Biosecurity – FTA/APSA) and I participated in a series of meetings in Canberra this week including those with senior ministerial advisors and departmental representatives.
 
Terminal Access Charges
 
Following a recent meeting with a representative for the Assistant Trade Minister, we met in Parliament House with another senior policy advisor, this time from the office of the Assistant Treasurer. In the lead up to the federal election and with much hype surrounding the 'cost of living crisis', both the government and opposition have been fully briefed on the $2BN+ paid annually in incontestable charges administered by stevedores and empty container parks.
 
We remind members to join our live and interactive webinar on 13 March 2025 with Anna Brakey, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Commissioner, who will elaborate on the findings from their most recent Container Stevedore Monitoring Report – register HERE
 
Innovation with Biosecurity
 
Refer to our Linked-In post HERE
 
 
 
ABF Commissioner & Cyber
 
Following an extremely informative initial meeting with Australian Border Force Commissioner Gavan Reynolds AO (pictured second from right) and Commander Dr Ben Evans (pictured left) we were privileged to participate in a half day workshop yesterday titled 'Cyber Security Consequence Management Discussion Exercise' facilitated by the National Office of Cyber Security.
 
 
 
Representatives from DP World shared their learnings from their November 2023 cyber-attack with Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) being the only other industry participants present to provide input into operational implications in the hypothetical event a cyber incident affecting the Integrated Cargo System (ICS).   
 
Importantly, the exercise:

• provided FTA with vital contacts and an insight into the complex cyber response activities completed by government departments as explained by representatives from the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF), Australian Border Force (ABF), Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC); and
• exposed vulnerabilities in the existing ICS Business Continuity Plan (BCP), last updated in March 2011.

While it is highly recommended that members familiarise themselves with the existing BCP, FTA will continue advocacy for reform and to work with the government departments to establish pragmatic measures to best safeguard border protection measures and trade facilitation in the event of an extended ICS outage.

Paul Zalai - Director FTA / Secretariat APSA