DCN December Edition 2019

AIR CARGO
LITTLE DISRUPTION FROM ENHANCED EXAMINATION
The extension of stringent air cargo examination
procedures to all exports has occurred this year without
major disruption, according to the Australian Federation of
International Forwarders.
The Enhanced Air Cargo Examination system was extended
from exports to the United States only to all international
exports in March.
AFIF business affairs manager Stuart McFarlane says despite
the potential for disruption to air freight exports, the roll-out
across the board has occurred remarkably smoothly.
EACE requires all international air freight from Australia
be examined at piece level by a regulated air cargo agent
or originate from a known consignor and be issued with a
security declaration.
The scheme was initially implemented on air freight from
Australia to the United States in July 2017. Following the
terrorist plot to blow up an Etihad plane leaving Sydney,
the Department of Home Affairs then extended the same
requirements to all cargo exported by air from Australia from 1
March this year.
Mr McFarlane says the extension of the scheme required
investment by several companies in new scanning equipment
and staff training.
There are now 52 regulated air cargo agents at freight
forwarders and cargo terminal operators at 129 EACE
examination sites and another 305 known consignors at 406
sites, he says.
Mr McFarlane says it helped that the examination load
had been spread widely when the new requirements came
into effect.
“The fact that there are several off-airport RACAs has meant
that the bottle-necking that was anticipated to occur at the
CTOs has been avoided, as the examination load is spread
across multiple parties in the chain,” he says.
“That meant a sort of soft landing, compared to what it
might have otherwise been.”
Mr McFarlane says the clearing of cargo is fairly evenly
spread across the off-airport RACA freight forwarders, CTOs,
and the known consignors.
He says the advantage for customers of using off-airport
freight forwarders is that cargo is the subject to only a twohour
cut-off time at the airports, while a six hour cut-off was
necessary if goods had to be examined by CTOs.
Mr McFarlane says the extra examination involved had
added another layer to the freight forwarders’ role but the
impact was not unworkable.
“There’s a bit of extra time involved in having to do the
checking at the piece-level. It’s a burden but not a large
burden,” he says, adding that authorities have been reasonable
in working with the private sector to ensure the smooth
transition to the new system.
“The freight forwarders have adapted to a new regime, but
it would be fair to say that once everybody got into a routine
pattern or structure of looking after their exports, it’s just been
business as usual,” he says.
But Mr McFarlane acknowledged that there was the
potential for delays during the peak season as extra goods
were sent all over the world prior to Christmas.
Mr McFarlane says the EACE requirements will be extended
into the domestic sphere next but he says the industry has so
far handled the extra impost well.
“It’s been quite an achievement by the industry to get the
equipment and train their staff to operate the equipment but I
commend the industry for responding professionally,” he says.
Stuart McFarlane, business affairs
manager, Australian Federation of
International Forwarders
Goods produced in
New South Wales
will no longer
have to be trucked
to Brisbane or
Melbourne in
order to reach
lucrative Asian
markets overnight
Graham
Millett, WSA
is an evolution of Australian architecture past,
present and future”.
Cox project director David Holm said the design
took inspiration from “the unique local flora of western
Sydney and the great Australian light to create an
unmistakable regional identity”.
Mr Millett said the architects would consult with
groups across the community as they refine the initial
concept design.
“We’re pleased the architectural team has already
engaged Western Sydney University students and local
Dharug community members during the initial concept
design development,” he says.
“We’ll now be working closely with key
government, industry and community stakeholders as
we further refine and enhance the concepts to arrive
at a final design.”
The airport is expected to be a catalyst for business
development and employment and has been designed
to grow with demand to handle well beyond the initial
volumes of freight.
“The first stage of the airport has the potential to
process around 220,000 tonnes of freight each year
through its proposed on-airport freight facility, with
multiple dedicated freighter aircraft stands,” Mr
Millett says.
“This is set to scale up with demand, potentially
handling 1.8 million tonnes of air freight each year in
the future.”
DESIGNING FROM THE GROUND UP
The new airport is a rare opportunity to design a
facility especially for freight and to ensure the best
possible result, according to Mr Millett. To that end,
WSA is working with freight companies on design and
operation of the precinct.
The company has entered into memorandums of
understanding with a number of major Australian
and global freight companies including Australia Post,
DB Schenker, DHL Express, DSV Air and Sea, FedEx,
Menzies Aviation, Swissport, Qantas Freight, Skyroad
Logistics and Wymap.
David Sexton
44 December 2019
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