The Australian Government has outlined its goals on streamlining Australia’s trade system, to ease pressure on our supply chains and make it cheaper for Australian importers and exporters.
The October 2022-23 Budget confirmed the Government’s support for making cross-border trade easier for Australian business, recommitting $187.1 million over 4 years. The intention is to lay the foundations for a world-class cross-border trade system for Australia, including by delivering a ‘tell us once’ trade system.
A factsheet detailing the 2022-23 Budget Simplified Trade System measures is available here.
This commitment includes $12.6 million in funding for the STS Taskforce to coordinate whole-of-government efforts to deliver regulatory, process, digital and data improvements to simplify trade interactions with government. The STS Taskforce will continue working with key agency partners to deliver integrated and incremental improvements for Australian business.
This week the Trade Minister Don Farrell convened a meeting of the Simplified Trade System Industry Advisory Council in Melbourne. The following is an excerpt from his media release dated 03 March 2023:
“The Council brings together industry leaders in ports, airports, shipping, logistics, trade finance, technology, and imports and exports to provide strategic advice and engagement on the Government’s Simplified Trade System reform agenda. […]
“We spoke about the benefits for both business, government, and the community of making trade simpler and more sustainable. The reforms support the Albanese Government’s trade diversification agenda, supply chain productivity, and will put downward pressure on costs, while maintaining vital border and biosecurity protections.
“The whole-of-government reform agenda is led and coordinated through the Simplified Trade System Implementation Taskforce, working closely with key government agencies.
You can read the communique here.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell:
“Our outdated trading system means that Australian shipments can take twice as long to complete documents and border compliance processes, compared to our trade competitors like Canada, the US, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Singapore – who take 19 hours on average.”
“The former Government made a promise to do something about this in 2013 but spent a decade admiring the problem.”
“The Albanese Government is focussed on opening doors for our businesses to trade globally by streamlining trade processes through the Simplified Trade System.”
“The reforms will make it easier for businesses to import and export and help ensure Australia remains the best place to do business.”
“Simplifying the processes and systems that enable Australian exporters to trade more efficiently will deliver flow on benefits to virtually all aspects of everyday life. More trade means more well-paying jobs, more national income, and more opportunities for business.”
Read our related article, Boost for Aussie Exporters HERE.
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