Cargo moving as minister acknowledges ICS problems

Stevedores at Port Botany and Melbourne continued to report improved movement of containers through the ports yesterday (Tuesday, October 25) and continued to play down the prospect of any vessel delays resulting from Customs-related issues. After a crisis meeting today with industry representatives, both Customs minister Chris Ellison and Customs conceded that "more needs to be done" to address concerns over the implementation of the Integrated Cargo System.. A first action group meeting &#8211 co-chaired by Customs and industry &#8211 will be held on Friday. This will try to identify and address solutions for a range of issues &#8211 including data matching and underbond movements &#8211 and the implementation and education issues associated with them. Senator Ellison will press-on with the ICS on the basis that improvements being made to the way the system is operated will eventually clear backlogs of cargo on the nation’s wharves and airports. Stevedores P&#38O and Patrick advised that across the ports of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane around 8,400 containers had been cleared for collection. A process was agreed to ensure that when a container had been cleared, this will be reflected in the vehicle booking system and a booking can be made to collect that container. P&#38O and Patrick will provide extended hours including Saturdays and Sundays for the collection of containers. The New South Wales Road Transport Association also expressed a willingness to support and promote this process with road transport associations. Both Customs and the Australian Quarantine Service have said they will ensure that staff are available to accommodate these arrangements. An ACS statement issued this afternoon said that there was broad agreement that Customs should press ahead with the new system and continue to work with freight forwarders, transport operators, brokers and stevedores to resolve technical difficulties and processing issues. This will also rely on Customs and third party software suppliers delivering system enhancements as efficiently and expeditiously as possible. Customs said it was also working closely with software providers to deal with the specific issue of clearing the wharves of containers. Importers and exporters associations have agreed to assist this process of moving containers by encouraging their members to assist in clearing the backlog. Senator Ellison acknowledged the cooperation of all parties involved in working towards resolution of all outstanding issues and will continue to monitor progress closely. There was concern about misinformation and rumours circulating about cargo issues. "The ICS system is not in any way compromising the integrity of Customs and quarantine border responsibilities," the Customs statement said. There was also discussion on the issue of storage charges. Customs will be providing further advice on this. The congestion appeared to hit Brisbane for the first time yesterday, with truck ranks at the Fisherman Islands terminals reported closed to new bookings during some of the day for the backlog to be cleared. P&#38O Ports said that 600 containers were expected to leave its Botany terminals yesterday, with over 40% of import containers in its terminal cleared. The terminal normally handles 800 import box deliveries a day. At P&#38O’s West Swanson terminal, 50% of import containers had this morning been cleared for collection. Patrick’s Port Botany terminal was 80% full late yesterday but improving, with no vessel delays expected.

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