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2010
July 2010
Cargo Status documents
The most common question asked by industry is "What is the status of my cargo?"
Customs has produced two guides to assist users in understanding the status of their cargo within the ICS.
The documents are available on the following pages:
http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page6081.asp
http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page6082.asp
To view the documents directly:
Understanding cargo status conditions. This Quick Reference Guide assists users in determining the various reasons that their cargo might not be cleared.
Where do I find the status of my cargo? A beginners guide to cargo status.
ACCA2010-08 - Customs Type 3 digital certificate rollover
The existing Type 3 digital certificate used by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service will expire soon, and Customs and Border Protection will be ‘rolling over’ to a newly issued certificate on Thursday 23September 2010. View the advice.
ACCA 2010/07 - Re-use of Master Air Waybill Numbers
This advice addresses the implications that the re-use and re-reporting of Master Air Waybill numbers (MAWB) by airlines is causing with cargo reporting and cargo clearance within the Integrated Cargo System (ICS). View the advice.
GST Law changes affect value of taxable importation (VOTI)
GST Law changes took effect from 1 July. The definition of "place of consignment" and how VoTI is calculated may be affected. Some transport and other related services done in Australia will now be GST-free and will need to be included in the VoTI. Refer to ACN 2010/33 for further details: http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/AUSTRALIANCUSTOMSNOTICENO2010-33.pdf
View the ATO advice at http://www.ato.gov.au/content/00247194.htm
ACCA 2010/06 - New arrangements for tablet press permits
Customs and Border Protection has announced that from 1 July 2010, it will be taking over responsibility for the issuing of ‘Permission to Import’ in relation to the import control of tablet presses. View the advice.
Excise Equivalent Goods (EEG) Arrangements
On 1 July 2010, the ATO commenced administering certain aspects of importing activities for EEGs that are warehoused, including movement and settlement permissions. There will be minimal change to arrangements for duty free, providore or catering bond businesses.
You will continue to use ICS to acquit your customs obligations for imports and exports, pay duty and indirect tax, and deal with Customs and Border Protection for general import, export and ICS enquiries and tariff, valuation and origin advices.
For more information, go to the excise section of the ATO website or the EEG section of the Customs and Border Protection website.
Tariff Changes for 1 July 2010
Increase in duty rates for aviation fuel
Duty rates for aviation kerosene and gasoline will increase by $0.00702 per litre, from $0.02854 to $0.03556 per litre, from 1 July 2010. ACN 2010/29 refers.
Item 61 in Schedule 4
Item 61 in Schedule 4 (Expanded Overseas Assembly Provisions Scheme) and its treatment codes 461 and 561 will cease to operate from 1 July 2010. ACN 2010/27 refers.
June 2010
ACCA 2010/05 - Transfer of the Tariff Advice function from Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania to Victoria
Following an internal review of the Tariff Advice System, Customs and Border Protection has decided to establish tariff advice centres of excellence in Sydney and Melbourne. These centres of excellence will have primary responsibility for the provision of tariff advices and internal tariff advice reviews. The first phase of implementing that business improvement strategy will see the Melbourne Tariff team (Tariff South) delivering the tariff advice service for Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania from Thursday 01 July 2010. View the advice.
Customs Type 3 digital certificate rollover
The rollover of the Type 3 digital certificate used by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service will occur soon.
This means that users who send messages to the Integrated Cargo System (in both Industry Test and Production), using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) software, need to rollover to the new Customs digital certificate.
This rollover does not affect any digital certificates you or your organisation may have purchased. This is an advance notification only. No immediate action is required.
A second advice will be released soon, outlining the requirements of the rollover, and will include two attachments, the new Customs Public Key and a Certificate Rollover Guide.
May 2010
Cargo Support website review - participants required
Customs and Border Protection is reviewing the Cargo Support website, and would like expressions of interest from stakeholders who would like to participate in information gathering workshops, to be held at Customs House in Sydney in early June.
Interested parties should email [email address removed - participants no longer required]
April 2010
Excise Equivalent Goods (EEG) Arrangements
From 1 July 2010, the ATO will administer certain aspects of importing activities for EEGs that are warehoused, including movement and settlement permissions. There will be minimal change to arrangements for duty free, providore or catering bond businesses.
You will continue to use ICS to acquit customs and indirect tax obligations on imports, and deal with Customs and Border Protection for general import and ICS enquiries.
For more information, go to www.ato.gov.au/excise or www.customs.gov.au
ACCA 2010/04 - Cargo Support website review - Online survey
This notice provides details of the review of the Cargo Support website, and invites users of the site to participate in an online survey. The survey will be open until Tuesday 25 May, and the feedback received aims to form a basis for changes and improvements to the website.
View the survey. (Survey closed - 25 May 2010)
March 2010
Email required for depot operators
Depot Operators
A number of recent incidents of potentially hazardous importations has highlighted that Customs and Border Protection does not have current contact details for all depots.
Please provide a contact email address for your establishment, preferably generic, to the Licensing section in Canberra at licensing@customs.gov.au
This will allow Customs and Border Protection to contact all depots in a timely manner should further incidents occur.
Update - Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) and use with the ICS
Customs and Border Protection advise that the issues with ICS reports for users operating Vista with Internet Explorer 8 have been resolved. If any users are experiencing difficulties please email cargosupport@customs.gov.au
ACCA 2010/03 - AQIS – S-Cargo – Giant African Snail Cargo Clearance Project - 2nd Queensland Trial
This notice is to advise industry that AQIS will conduct a further trial of the use of Giant African Snail (GAS) electronic holds in the ICS in Brisbane in May 2010.
The second trial will be conducted on a similar basis to that which was conducted in March 2010, and is a part of the AQIS GAS holds project which includes the development of an AQIS IT application (S-Cargo) that will interface with the ICS. S-Cargo will enable the automatic placement of holds on cargo from high-risk GAS origin countries in the ICS.
Introduction of Duty Drawback claim functionality in the Integrated Cargo System
Recent enhancements to the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) provide for electronic lodgement of duty drawback claims via the Customs Interactive (CI) facility effective from 23 March 2010. The CI functionality includes lodgement, search, amendment and withdrawal. For further information see ACN 2010/16
February 2010
Imports of tremolite asbestos
Customs and Border Protection is currently screening imports from China of stone materials such as granite, marble, slate and similar stone for highly dangerous tremolite asbestos. In order to avoid unnecessarily holding shipments of low-risk stone products, Customs and Border Protection requests that customs brokers substantially improve the quality of goods descriptions for items falling within chapters 25 and 68, as soon as possible.
Importations of chapter 25 or 68 goods with generic descriptions such as:
- Stone products
- Articles of stone
- Slate tiles
- Marble tiles
- Granite tiles
- Limestone articles
- Polished mosaics
- Natural Slate
- Natural stone
- Chinese slate
- Granite benchtops
- Other monumental / building stone simply cut
- Pebbles
may be subject to high levels of scrutiny - including assessment of importer paperwork, cargo examination and/or laboratory analysis. This may involve substantial delays to clearance and additional storage or other costs, to be borne by the importer. The potential for these delays to occur will be significantly reduced if Customs and Border Protection is able to determine from ICS goods description information that the imported goods do not fall in one of the high risk categories.
It is particularly important that the colour, type of stone (eg: marble, slate, granite), product number and form of the stone (eg: wall tiles, stackstone, mosaic stone) are reported correctly.
Please input a separate line for each different type of product listed on supplier invoices. For example:
"Red quartzite ledgestone - Ruby Red - 150mm x 160mm" rather than "quartz tiles"
"Pearly grey white granite - Swirl - benchtops 1500mm x 1000mm" rather than "articles of marble"
"Black granite stackstone cladding - GH9064" rather than "cladding".'
Other relevant information:
The ACCC and WorkCover NSW issued alerts on 13 February 2010 regarding recent importations of decorative wall tiles from China which have been found to contain tremolite asbestos. The WorkCover NSW alert contains relevant information and photographs of the type of tiles which may be of concern.
Refunds for reinstated bed linen TCOs
A number of TCOs for bed linen have been reinstated. Read more.
2009
December 2009
ASEAN-AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (AANZFTA) - UPDATE 3
The ASEAN - Australia New-Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) will enter into force for Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam on 1 January 2010. The legislative amendments, together with other relevant information regarding this Free Trade Agreement, can be viewed by accessing hyperlinks on the webpage for the AANZFTA.
Last updated 09 DEC 2009 11:02
(update - Philippines is now included)
ICS Updates is available
The recent technical problem with the ICS Updates facility has been fixed. All ICS Updates can now be viewed by clicking the ICS Updates link in the right hand menu of the Cargo Support home page (http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/default.asp)
Australian Customs Cargo Advices 2009/04, 2009/05
Two new Australian Customs Cargo Advices (ACCAs) have been released.
ACCA 2009/04 - This ACCA outlines the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service's arrangements for the inspection and examination of sea cargo. It replaces Australian Customs Cargo Advice 2008/12.
ACCA 2009/05 - This ACCA outlines a number of service levels that the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service employs in relation to cargo examination. It also outlines the introduction of increased Customs and Border Protection inspection arrangements in four regional ports, and some refinement of the volume of cargo in other locations. It replaces Australian Customs Cargo Advice 2008/13.
To view these advices, go to the ACCAs page
Review of the Tariff Advice System 2009/2010
The 2009/10 Customs and Border Protection Annual Plan commits Trade and Compliance Division to examining working arrangements and business processes for the Tariff Advice System. The Tariff Advice System will be reviewed to ensure that it delivers a service that meets the needs of Customs and Border Protection, industry and other relevant stakeholders.
In making its assessments, the review team will specifically consider whether:
- practices around the provision of tariff advice are still appropriate;
- the delivery of tariff advice is contemporary and aligns with Government policy;
- the delivery of tariff advice is efficient, consistent and transparent; and
- Tariff Advices should be made publicly available.
The review team would like to hear from all interested parties, so if you would like to contribute to or be made aware of the progress of the review please advise your interest by email to tariffservicesreview@customs.gov.au by COB Friday 20 November 2009.
Tariff Concessions Gazette
Readers of the Tariff Concessions Gazette are advised that, owing to maintenance work on the Customs website, some links to the gazette have been disconnected. This will particularly affect those who use bookmarks to access the gazette. The updated link can be found on the Tariff Concessions Gazette page.
ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) - UPDATE 1
The ASEAN-Australia New-Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) will enter into force for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Brunei, and Vietnam on 1 January 2010. The legislative amendments, together with other relevant information regarding this Free Trade Agreement, can be viewed on the Customs and Border Protection website at http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page6076.asp
November 2009
ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA)
The ASEAN – Australia New-Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) will enter into force for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Brunei, the Philippines, and Vietnam on 1 January 2010. The legislative amendments, together with other relevant information regarding this Free Trade Agreement, can be viewed on the Customs and Border Protection AANZFTA page.
ICS Outage - Saturday 21 November 2009
Please note that the ICS will be unavailable for 1 hour on Saturday 21 November from 01:00 to 02:00 hrs EDT.
Australian Customs and Border Protection apologise for any inconvenience.
October 2009
Digital Certificate Expiry
All digital certificates used for communicating with Customs and Border Protection via the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) are valid for 2 years.
Customs records indicate that a number of digital certificates are due to expire soon. Clients will need to renew their digital certificate in order to continue communicating with Customs via the ICS.
If your certificate is due to expire, you will receive an email from VeriSign alerting you to this.
If your Authorised Officer (AO) or Click Through Agreement (CTA) Signatory is no longer an employee of your organisation, a new one must be nominated, and Customs informed of the change.
Digital certificate enquiries should be emailed to cmc@customs.gov.au
UPDATE - INTERNET EXPLORER 8 (IE8) AND USE WITH THE ICS
Customs and Border Protection advise that the reporting available through the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) will not deliver full functionality if your system is running on Windows Vista with the newly released Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). Only reports for the current day can be requested if your system is using Vista with IE8.
If reports for previous dates are required, please maintain your systems on Internet Explorer 7. This issue is being investigated and advice will be issued when a resolution is reached.
Customs and Border Protection apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
September 2009
September 2009
Compliance Industry Briefing Paper - Update
The Compliance Industry Briefing paper outlines performance targets, statistics and information on Compliance requirements associated with import and export activities. View the report.
August 2009
ICS release 9.4.07
ICS release 9.4.07 is scheduled for implementation on 9 September 2009 and contains a number of changes to the ICS. These notes provide clients with a better understanding of what has been fixed and how it might relate to their business.
Read the release notes.
UPDATE - Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) and use with the ICS
Customs and Border Protection does not currently support the newly released Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) for use with the Integrated Cargo System (ICS).
We have assessed IE8 for use with the ICS, and can announce that the ICS will support IE8 by the end of September 2009.
For more information, please read this document.
Treatment of Unentered and Certain Abandoned Goods
Customs and Border Protection has released new information to assist industry on the correct way to manage unentered and certain abandoned goods.
The Instructions and Guidelines for unentered and certain abandoned goods is now available on the Customs and Border Protection website.
Industry operators and owners are responsible for managing goods in their possession (even where such goods are subject to Customs and Border Protection control).
Acting as the designated 'owner', allows operators to initiate action to lawfully deal with time-up and long stay unentered goods in their possession, in accordance with contractual terms and conditions, and/or other relevant commercial arrangements.
The new guidelines also bring to an end the auctioning of goods (also known as Customs and Border Protection sales) as an option for disposing of unentered goods or abandoned goods.
In certain limited circumstances only, Customs and Border Protection may assist with the disposal of 'certain goods' (e.g. unclaimed intractable waste) in the interest of public safety.
July 2009
July 23
AQIS Systems Outage - Sunday 26 July 2009: 1:00pm-10:00pm AEST
Please be advised that AQIS processing will be limited to urgent clearances on 26 July 2009 from 1:00pm-10:00pm AEST, due to urgent changes in network infrastructure. The anticipated effect of this change is that messages will not flow between AQIS and Customs for a period of time during the outage window. As a result, AQIS Officers will not be able to clear consignments as per normal operations and contingency may be enacted for urgent clearances.
For further information, refer to the AQIS Import Industry Advice.
July 6
Tariff Concession Mailbox Notification
The former Tariff Concessions mailbox, tarcon@connect.net.au has now been permanently disabled. Any emails sent to it will not be actioned.
Could all emails to Tariff Concessions please use the current mailbox: tarcon@customs.gov.au
Manager - Tariff Concessions Section
Trade Services Branch
June 2009
June 30
ACCA 2009/03 - Compliance Monitoring Program
Customs and Border Protection's new Compliance Monitoring Program will commence on 1 July 2009. This program replaces the Benchmark Audit program with a program using Pre Clearance Intervention (PCI) or Red-line processing, and will commence with an Imports phase. Read the full document on the ACCAs page. (select '2009' then ACCA Number 2009/03)
June 30
Attention all Brokers Licence Holders
If you are having trouble lodging import declarations, this may be because you have either not completed the renewal process for your licence, the payment has not been made, or the renewal paperwork has not been received.
If you are the holder of a nominee licence, you can check the ICS to see whether you still have the role of nominee broker.
If you no longer have this role please contact broker licensing urgently on 02 6275 5088 today.
If you still have this role, but are no longer linked to the corporate licence, please contact your organisation's Customs manager in the first instance.
The Customs Manager must contact broker licensing urgently on 02 6275 5088 today.
The licence end date will be extended to enable you to finalise your renewal process, but this must be done urgently before COB tomorrow to guarantee that your licence will not expire.
May 2009
ICS Release 9.4.05
ICS Release 9.4.05 is due for implementation on 20 May 2009. Release notes are now available.
Customs Broker Licence Renewals
During April 2009, an "Application for Renewal of Customs Broker's Licence" and a renewal invoice were posted to all current licence holders. It is the Brokers responsibility to ensure that contact details listed in the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) are up to date. Licences that are not renewed by close of business on 30 June 2009 will expire on that date and will no longer be valid. After that date Brokers who wish to be licensed will need to make a new licence application to the Chief Executive Officer of Customs (CEO). It will not be possible to renew an expired licence.
For further details refer to ACN 2009/10 Customs Broker Licence Renewals
April 2009
ICS Outage Report
A report on the ICS outage experienced on 15 April 2009 is now available. View the report.
Australian Customs Notice 2009/17 - Credit Card surcharge increase
When payments are made via credit card to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, a surcharge is payable.
From 15 April, this surcharge may increase delending on the credit card type used.
Full details are available in ACN 2009/17.
ICS release 9.4.04
The next ICS release (9.4.04), due for implemenetation on 22 April 2009, relates to issues of Border Protection, and therefore no release notes will be published.
Internet Explorer 8 and use with the ICS
At present Customs and Border Protection does not support the newly released Internet Explorer 8 for use with the Integrated Cargo System (ICS). We are currently working on providing a solution to enable the use of IE8 with these applications. It is recommended that you do not upgrade to IE8 before a solution has been provided. Further updates will be provided.
ACCA 09/02 AQIS Service Fee indicator on ICS EFT Payment Report
From Wednesday 1 April 2009, the ICS EFT Payment Report will include an AQIS Service Payment column.
The payment indicator will show 'Y' only where an AQIS payment has been made. Where the payment does not relate to AQIS service fields the field will not be populated.
All reports generated from 1 April will display the column. For more information go to the ACCAs page.
Notice - Alcopops
Customs Tariff Proposal (No 1) 2008, remains in effect, notwithstanding that the bill has failed to pass. Customs and Border Protection will therefore continue to collect revenue at the rate proposed until the statuatory protection period expires.
The Customs Act provides Customs officers with legal protection for a specified period for any actions taken to collect amounts in accordance with a Customs Tariff proposal.
In this instance, this protection expires on 13 May 2009. At this time, if no validating Act has passed, Customs and Border Protection would be obliged to refund all additional amounts collected during the relevant period and commence collection of future duty at the rate imposed by the Customs Tariff Act.
Further advice will be provided on the administrative arrangements Customs and Border Protection will put in place in order to refund monies where applicable.
Any enquiries regarding this matter can be directed to IndustryEngagement@customs.gov.au
Redesign of Customs Refunds process
As of 1 January 2009, the Customs National Refunds Centre will be established in South Australia, with some functionality continuing in Victoria as part of the transition arrangements.
2008
FINAL reminder - Customs Type 3 digital certificate rollover
Customs 'rolled over' to a newly issued Type 3 digital certificate on Wednesday 15 October 2008. Clients who send messages to the ICS using electronic data interchange (EDI) software, need to rollover to the new Customs certificate as soon as possible. For more information, go to: http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page6004.htm
ACCA 0813 - Sea Cargo Status - Service Levels
This ACCA outlines the information that Customs requires before it can finalise its risk assessment for sea cargo including:
the timeframes that Customs aims to complete its risk assessment within once all required information is available
the services that Customs offer when those timeframes cannot be met.
It also provides information on ways in which industry can assist Customs to minimise its impact on the sea cargo supply chain.
To view this ACCA, go to: http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page5740.htm, then click on '2008'.
ACCA 0812 - Sea Cargo Inspection and Examination Arrangements
This ACCA updates all relevant information about Customs arrangements for the inspection and examination of sea cargo.
To view this ACCA, go to: http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page5740.htm, then click on '2008'.
Integrated Cargo System Information Sessions
Customs is delivering information sessions to explain recent ICS developments and enhancements relating to declarations and broker functionality.
Spaces are limited, and are filling fast.
To book into a session, go to: http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page6003.htm
ACCA 2008/11 - IMPROVING CERTAINTY OF CONSOLIDATED STATUS IN THE INTEGRATED CARGO SYSTEM
Customs is aware of industry concerns regarding changes to cargo status in the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) where the original status is 'Clear' or where payment is the only remaining requirement for clearance.
In response to these concerns, Customs is implementing modifications to the ICS to process all facets of risk assessment on import declarations in real time, which in turn increases the certainty of the original status issued. It is expected these new arrangements will considerably minimise late changes to status unless exceptional circumstances exist.
To view these ACCAS, go to: http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page5740.htm, then click on '2008'.
Revocation of Gift Concession
Under Item 32B of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 there are several by-laws that provide duty and tax free import concessions. One of these by-laws (number 9740019 of 17 September 1997) is commonly known as the 'gift concession' and is being revoked.
Change to AQIS Container Fees reverted
On 12 August 2008 AQIS increased the fees relating to the clearance of FCL, FCX ($15 to $16) and LCL ($3.75 to $4) containers on ICS import declarations. Due to an issue with the ICS applying the increase on post-delivery amended declarations the increase in the fees has been reverted effective from today. Container fees will remain at the current rates until a solution has been implemented in the ICS.
AQIS Import Clearance Fees Review Release Date
AQIS Import Clearance Program has reviewed its broad schedule of fees and this review is anticipated to come into effect from 12 August 2008, subject to the relevant changes to the appropriate legislation.
To read the notice go to: http://www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/import/general-info/ian/08-09
Customs Type 3 digital certificate rollover
The Type 3 digital certificate used by the Australian Customs Service will expire in October 2008.
Users who send messages to the Integrated Cargo System (in both Industry Test and Production), using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) software, will need to rollover to the new Customs Type 3 digital certificate.
For more information, go to: http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page5951.htm
Indexation of certain customs tariff duty rates - August 2008
Rates of duty for certain spirits, beer and tobacco products will increase from 1 August 2008, in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
For more information, go to: http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5800.htm
ICS Release 8.4.10
ICS release 8.4.10 is scheduled for implementation on Wednesday 25 June 2008.
To read the release notes, click here.
This release includes changes to air cargo underbond validation processes.
For more information on these processes, read the ACCA.
Change to CI & SC service arrangements
Customs has introduced new telephony protocol, which comes into effect on 14 June 2008. The expected benefits for clients phoning the CI & SC include an increase in first call resolution rate, a decrease in average call time, and reduced research time during calls. The only noticeable difference for clients calling the CI & SC will be the requirement to use telephone touch keys following voice prompts.
To read the industry brief, click here.
For more information about the telephony process, click here.
Changes to weekly scheduled ICS outage time - 29 May 2008
Reminder: The weekly scheduled ICS outage time has changed.
The scheduled ICS outage time is now on Wednesday mornings, from 12:00 am until 04:00 hours.
View more information about the outage here.
Customs IT Transition Update - 15 May 2008
Customs is transitioning the platform hosting the Customer Connect Facility (CCF) to a new service provider this weekend 17-18 May 2008.
There will be an ICS outage during this time. For further information on outage times view the latest update here.
Outage Report - 30 April/1 May 2008
This document provides details of ICS outage 30 April/1 May 2008.
For more information, view the document here
Unaccompanied Personal Effects
There is a new fact sheet available for Unaccompanied Personal Effects (UPEs).
For more information, view the factsheet here.
Increase in excise equivalent duty on certain spirit based pre-mixed drinks - April 2008
Rates of duty for certain spirit based pre-mixed drinks "alcopops" increased from 27 April 2008.
The new rates of duty are available here.
ACCA 2008/04 - ICS Outage Notification for final phase of IT Transition
ACCA 2008/04 - ICS Outage Notification for final phase of IT Transition
The ICS will be unavailable from Saturday 17 May, 1600hrs AEST to Sunday 18 May, 0200hrs AEST.
For more information, view the ACCA
Customs IT Transition Update - 23 April 2008
This issue provides information on the final phase of IT transition, including a schedule of outages and information on the Industry Test environment.
For more information, view the latest update
Customs IT Transition update - 31st March 2008
This issue provides information on Industry test activity, advantages of the new IT platform and a reminder about the 10 hour outage on 12/13 April 2008.
ACCA 08/02 - ICS Outage Notification for IT Transition
As part of Customs IT transition to a new provider we are expecting a 10 hour ICS outage from Saturday 12 April, 1600 hrs AEST to Sunday 13 April, 0200 hours AEST.
To read more on this
view the latest update
Customs IT Transition update - 17 March 2008
A review of the quality assurance and testing activities supporting the cutover of Customs main processing environment was conducted in late February. As a result of this activity a new schedule has been developed for the mainframe.
The new schedule has the Customs mainframe environment (which hosts the Integrated Cargo System) cutting over on 12-13 April. In preparation for this, we are inviting industry to test commencing on 27 March.
Transhipment Cargo
Customs has compiled guidelines to clearly define the reporting requirements for transhipment cargo. This has been done to establish nationally consistent requirements and responsibilities for owners, cargo reporters, depot operators, cargo terminal operators (CTOs), and freight forwarders.
Customs IT Transition - 26 February 2008
As part of the main processing transition we are undertaking a number of quality assurance and testing activities to support the cutover. These include a number of 'dress rehearsals' to ensure that all aspects of the cutover process have been comprehensively addressed.
In reviewing the results of a recent dress rehearsal the Customs Executive has decided to rebase line the schedule to undertake additional testing. This decision reflects the Executive's overriding concern to ensure that we complete the transition to our new mainframe environment with no adverse impact on industry.
ACCA 2007/27 has been revised
ACCA 2007/27 has been revised to further clarify the diagram associated with cargo reporting for Customs purposes. To view the updated ACCA go to http://www.cargosupport.gov.au/site/page5833.htm
Customs IT Transition - 18 February 2008
Customs is transitioning its IT main processing services to a new service provider in the first quarter of 2008 with completion scheduled for the end of March. This means that the existing infrastructure that supports Customs Cargo Business Systems will be replaced and relocated at two new data centres - a production processing site and test and disaster recovery services site.
Customs IT Transition - February 2008
Customs is transitioning its IT main processing services to a new service provider in the first quarter of 2008 with completion scheduled for the end of March. This means that the existing infrastructure that supports Customs Cargo Business Systems will be replaced and relocated at two new data centres - a production processing site and test and disaster recovery services site.
New Industry Action Group page on the Cargo Support website - January 2008
A new page has been created on the Cargo Support website to consolidate all Industry Action Group (IAG) reference material and links to relevant industry documents.
All IAG meeting minutes including the last meeting held on 5th December 2007 are available as well as all IAG status reports and known Industry facing issues.
For further information on any IAG issues go to the Industry Action Group webpage or email IndustryEngagement@customs.gov.au
Customs IT Transition - January 2008
Customs is transitioning its IT main processing services to a new service provider in the first quarter of 2008 with completion scheduled for the end of March. This means that the existing infrastructure that supports Customs Cargo Business Systems will be replaced and relocated at two new data centres - a production processing site and test and disaster recovery services site.
ICS (CMR) Data Search facility to cease 31 January 2008 - January 2008
The ICS Data Search Facility was originally set up to assist clients by providing an easy-to-use search facility for client and sea cargo data. Since that time, a number of enhancements to Client and Sea Cargo searches in the ICS Customs interactive have made this facility redundant.
These enhancements are:
Client - All Client information can be accessed via the Registered Client Search screen available under the Client menu. The new client search screen was introduced in November 2007 to speed up data retrieval
Sea Cargo - Sea Cargo searches are available via the Sea Cargo Report or Diagnostics sub- menu items under the Imports Menu.
Customs Call Centre Customer Survey Proposal - January 2008
The Customs Information & Support Centre (CI&SC) intends to conduct a survey of its client base during February/March 2008. The objective of this research is to determine the current and future needs of our customers in anticipation of the implementation of new contact centre technology in the first half of 2008.