More than a year since the troubled implementation of the Australian Customs Service’s integrated cargo system, the ramifications are still lingering in the cargo industry.
More than a year since the troubled implementation of the Australian Customs Service’s integrated cargo system, the ramifications are still lingering in the cargo industry.
As part of the $205 million Cargo Management Reengineering project, the system, which is an online cargo clearance of imports, continues to cause problems, particularly in the sea freight industry.
Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia WA president, Wayne Birrell, told WA Business News that, while some of the issues had been resolved, including the movement of sea cargo, problems still plagued the system.
“There have been issues regarding cargo documentation and reporting problems in regards to data going into the system,” Mr Birrell said.
“There is still a long way to go; some shortfalls still haven’t been resolved. It works, but still there are issues with getting cargo cleared, mainly in sea freight.”
Mr Birrell said the slower processing of data led to increased costs in terms of employee overtime and lost productivity.
“You would send a data message to a customer and it would get lost in the system,” he said. “This happened day in and day out, and you had to do things three times to get it out.”
The upside of the failed system launch was the government’s willingness after the event to listen to the views of key stakeholders in the industry.
“I think customs CEO Michael Carmody, who was previously the tax commissioner, now realises the need to embrace the views of [stakeholders] in the industry,” Mr Birrell said.
“The government are now willing to listen to us. They thought it would work without a hitch but obviously it hasn’t and the thing is, we told them that there would be problems right from the outset.”
Earlier this year, consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton undertook an independent review of the ICS, with the report’s recommendations welcomed by Mr Carmody in June.
One of the issues affecting sea cargo highlighted in the report was the high level of data quality required by ICS and the breakdown with industry practices to adapt to the same level of quality.
This disparity led to the holding of cargo and a high level of manual intervention to keep trade moving.
In the Australian Customs Service Annual Report released last week, Mr Carmody acknowledged Customs could have made the implementation of ICS smoother.
“Consistent with [Booz Allen Hamilton’s] recommendations, we are now working closely with industry to address their immediate concerns and to develop the future for trade facilitation,” Mr Carmody said.
“This work is based on the finding of the review that the ICS and its modern architecture represent a sound base for further improvements.”
Mr Carmody also said it would meet appropriate compensation claims, with recent reports suggesting Customs has started paying up to $9 million in compensation.
