Another reminder that all containerised Italian imports are still subject to fumigation, at the importer’s expense, upon arrival into Australia. From arrival it can take a week or more due to huge queues at the quarantine approved depots pending fumigation, so please be patient with the import process at this time if your cargo is from Italy. A declaration covering all containers was issued by Quarantine from Jan 2018 which is expected to last until April 30th. If there are any queries on how this can affect your cargo, please call Marc Regan on 1300 186 629.

The 2018 AFL Season is not far away, and this year Tomax Logistics is inviting all of our staff and clients to participate in the Tomax AFL Tipping Competition for a chance to win $2000. For all the details, and your chance to win the big prize, please register for the competition at the following link, the password is tomax2018. The competition is open to Tomax staff and clients only.

Click Here to Register

About AUD270 million worth of drugs were found in shipping containers of fork lifts arriving into Adelaide port on January 24th. A combined effort between the Australian Border Force (Customs) and National and Local Police caught 3 men attempting to import the drugs. This brings to light the pressure Customs Brokers are under from the Australian Border Force (Customs) to have done their due diligence on the importer and the cargo being imported. The person and the paperwork are expected to be known to the Customs Broker, so in this situation the Customs Broker will be feeling the heat from Customs about how this happened. Please be patient with our customs team when they seem to ask you questions that you may have answered before, or may not seem relevant.

Another reminder to all that Quarantine have changed the format AGAIN for the Packing Declarations. With the recent decision by AQIS to accept bamboo packaging as long as it is treated by an approved method, the word bamboo has been removed from the prohibited packaging list, and alterations made to the pallets section.

The new declarations are required to be in place by 1 July 2018, but it is suggested that you introduce the new declarations to your suppliers asap so that they know about the revised requirements well beforehand. Attached are the new format declarations, and we have also provided links below:

FCL LCL Packing Dec
Annual Packing Dec

We are expecting that when China returns to work after Chinese New Year, the tight pressure on space and rates for containers will ease. Usually after Chinese New year the factories take a little time to warm up and get cargo shipping, so it is expected to be a slow period, which usually stays reasonably slow through to July. As to what rates are going to do, we know they will be cheaper, but how much cheaper? We will find out within the coming week for February and March, and will email all clients updates soon.

With the wharves now working 24/7, there is growing pressure for weekend trucking services. Wharves regularly make containers available over the weekend, and do not waive any storage fees if the containers are not collected. So more often now trucking companies are under pressure from importers and terminals to collect containers over the weekend to avoid wharf storage charges. Trucking companies, like most companies, would prefer not to work on weekends, however, if importers have containers available on weekends, then it is inevitable that either wharf storage is incurred, or a weekend surcharge is incurred. So please take this into consideration.

With the number of containers increasing each year, the demand for time slots is very high, meaning more time at the wharf waiting for the containers to be loaded onto a truck. It is very normal for a truck to have a timeslot at 6am, but still be at the wharf in a queue at 9am. This three hour wait is not uncommon, hence increasing costs for the trucking company. Just about all trucking companies are looking to recoup this waiting time cost, either through waiting time surcharges, or high trucking rates. We will do all we can to keep prices down, and will advise if things change.

We thought we'd throw in another photo for a laugh today. There has been a lot of talk recently about the dangers relating to the mass increase in selfies. Case in point: