The Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) is leading an agenda to modernise international trade flows, i.e. imported and exported goods through air cargo, sea cargo and international mail, that cross Australia’s border.
This agenda aims to create a future international trade system for Australia that is seamless, digital, automated and user-friendly. This will ensure the international competitiveness of Australian businesses and strengthen our border integrity.
Through the Border Permits Review they are seeking views of industry, the general public and government about regulatory and business process requirements for permits and associated licences for importing and exporting prohibited goods. The Review will identify opportunities to make these regulations and business processes clearer and easier to understand, navigate and manage.
Since 2016 DoHA, in consultation with other government agencies and industry has undertaken discovery activities to support the development of an enhanced single window for international trade. These activities and reports identified that border permits and associated licences are a sore point for industry, due to the complexity of regulation, duplicative and manual processes and limited interoperability between government systems and industry.
Before an enhanced single window can be developed, enabling legislation, regulations and business processes must be reviewed. As a result, DoHA is leading a whole-of-government review of border permits and associated licences (the Border Permits Review), as a critical step in the trade modernisation agenda.
