Reform to Customs Broker Licensing

Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) has formally approached the Australian Border Force (ABF) following our most recent Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Border Compliance Program events requesting formal review of the current regulatory framework which restricts licensed customs brokers from lodging Full Import Declarations (FIDs) while temporarily located outside of Australia.

FTA acknowledge the vital importance of maintaining the integrity of Australia's customs system, including the need for customs brokers to act responsibly, transparently, and within Australian jurisdiction. However, FTA submitted that there are circumstances in which permitting customs brokers to lodge from overseas—under clearly defined and controlled conditions—could modernise the system without compromising compliance or security.

The below proposal only seeks an exemption for customs brokers ordinarily resident in Australia who are temporality out of Australia.

Rationale for Reform
The modern international business environment has evolved significantly, particularly considering:

• the increase in remote working arrangements, which accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• the reality of short-term international travel for professional or personal reasons; and
• the increase in sole practitioner businesses.

Prohibiting lodgement from outside Australia may unintentionally:

• disrupt continuity of service for importers and exporters relying on timely declaration processing;
• require the lodgement of an import declaration by a customs broker within Australian who is less knowledgeable about the client and import then the regular (out of Australia) customs broker;
• penalise customs brokers for engaging in legitimate international travel or flexible work arrangements; and
• create inefficiencies that are inconsistent with broader government efforts to digitise and streamline trade processes.

Proposed Safeguards
To ensure compliance and accountability, we propose that remote lodgement from overseas be permitted under prescribed circumstances, such as:

• temporary overseas travel (e.g., up to 30 days) with prior written notice to ABF and production of a return ticket;
• ongoing availability to respond to ABF enquiries within the same timeframes as if they were in Australia; and / or
• caps could be imposed on the number of FIDs lodged overseas either during a particular trip or during a calendar year (the caps could be by reference to the nominee or corporate licence or both).