Importers to be aware that new import processing charges are in place

As of 1 January 2016, the Australian Government implemented changes to import processing charges as part of the 2015 – 16 Commonwealth Budget.

The purpose of the changes is to recover the increased costs of import related cargo and trade functions undertaken by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS).

This is to be achieved by two main changes to the former import processing charge arrangements:

• Removing the price differential between air/post and sea pathways;

• Introduction of a price differential between electronically and manually lodged declarations to reflect additional work required for manual processing.

The new charges are:

• Charges for consignments valued under $1,000 continue to have no charge;

• For electronically lodged import declarations with a consignment value under $10,000, the processing charge is $50, regardless of how the goods are imported into Australia (ie. the same for air/post and sea);

• For electronically lodged import declarations with a consignment value over $10,000, the processing charge is $152, regardless of how the goods are imported into Australia;

• For manually (ie documentary) lodged declarations with a consignment value under $10,000, the processing charge is $90, regardless of how the goods are imported into Australia;

• For manually lodged declarations with a consignment value over $10,000, the processing charge is $192, regardless of how the goods are imported into Australia;

• Warehouse declaration charges remain at $23 for electronic lodgement but have increased to $63 for documentary lodgement.

The ACBPS announcement on the import processing charges can be found here.

For more information about the import charges or how we can help you with your international freight needs, contact the team at Clarke Global Logistics on 9854 3000 or email enquiry@clarkeglobal.com.au

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