Cargo Compliance Verification (CCV) inspections – Experiencing delays
CCV inspections are conducted by the Department of Agriculture on containerised sea cargo imported into Australia. They are randomly applied to containers that would not typically be directed for inspection. During the inspection, biosecurity officers will check the commodity, packing materials and cleanliness of the internal and external surfaces of the container. Due to the number of vessels that have been by-passing Sydney, the volume of containers entering Melbourne and requiring CCV inspection has increased significantly. As a result, the ability to conduct CCV inspections in a commercially acceptable time frame has become difficult and we have been advised of industry members who are experiencing CCV inspection delays of up to 10-17 days. As we lead into the holiday season, volume of containers arriving into Melbourne show no sign of slowing down, therefore, we will monitor the situation and if any of our customers have a container subject to a CCV inspection, we will ensure inspections are booked as soon as possible to minimise any delays.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
Australia, China, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and the ASEAN nations have signed the long negotiated RCEP. RCEP is a free trade agreement that will compliment and build upon Australia’s existing free agreements with 14 other Indo-Pacific countries. The agreement provides greater likelihood of goods satisfying rules of origin, because content from all RCEP members will be counted, in comparison to bilateral agreements, where only content from two parties to that agreement count as qualifying content.
At this stage, the parties have signed the agreement, however its a long path before it becomes Australian law, as the agreement will need to go through parliamentary approval processes in Australia. The agreement will come into force once at least 6 ASEAN countries have ratified the agreement and 3 other non-ASEAN countries also ratify the agreement (including Australia). The agreement will come into force once ratified. At this stage, this is expected to happen in either late 2021 or early 2022. We will continue to monitor the progress of the agreement and update accordingly.
Los Angeles Congestion
Over the past few months the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have experienced record volumes, causing severe port congestion. Whilst the congestion continues to worsen in Southern California, it has now spread to the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. The spike in volume has created a deep impact on the export of LCL consolidations ex Los Angeles, leading to equipment shortage, advanced vessel cut-off without prior notice, shortage of drivers, rail delays and vessels omitting ports. We are monitoring the situation and we’ll work with the lines to ensure minimal disruption to our customers.
Thanksgiving Holiday USA
The USA will be celebrating their annual Thanksgiving holiday this year on Thursday November 26th.
Please note many companies will be running limited staff and leaving early on Wednesday 25th , and again many will be closed or have limited staff on Friday 27th