The Minister for Trade Don Farrell issued a media release jointly with the Prime Minister yesterday (30 November) confirming that the Indian Government has completed its domestic requirements to enable implementation of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). This trade agreement will deliver new market access opportunities for Australian businesses and consumers from […]
Patrick Terminals has announced plans to launch two new landside efficiency initiatives and publish quarterly landside performance metrics, which will cover their terminals in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle. They will also establish Representative Landside Efficiency Groups at these ports, which intend to focus on ways to develop solutions that support landside performance and the […]
The 2022 Australian Export Awards were held on Thursday night 24 November by Austrade in Canberra. Our congratulations go to Victorian infant formula company Bubs Australia, who was named Exporter of the Year. The Australian Export Awards are the nation’s most prestigious and longest-running export awards program, and the awards made a triumphant return to […]
Over recent times we have reported on a number of pests that “hitchhike” a ride in shipping containers into Australia, such as Stink Bugs and Khapra Beetles. We are now entering the flight season of the pest known as Burnt Pine Longhorn (BPL) Beetle, which extends from November to April/May. During this period, adult beetles […]
In February we were reporting that tugboat operator Svitzer had called on the FWC to intervene and prevent unions from calling strikes at major ports around the country. Then last week we wrote about the reverse situation where the unions appealed to the FWC to stop Svitzer from locking them out. The result was that […]
On 17 November 2022 the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) recommended the Australian Government take binding treaty action to bring the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement into force. A day later on 18 November, the Committee recommended the Government also take binding treaty action to bring the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) […]
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ordered Svitzer Australia to scrap its planned lockout of tugboat workers which was set to start today. As we reported on Tuesday, AP Møller-Maersk-owned Svitzer intended to bring Australia’s container ports to a standstill by preventing its tug boat crews from working, the latest escalation in a three-year battle […]
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been on a three-summit tour of the Asian region, attending the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summits in Phnom Penh, followed by the G20 meeting in Bali and then APEC in Bangkok this week. We expect that the outcomes of all these meetings will […]
An indefinite lockout of critical port workers in response to damaging strikes is set to grind Australia’s major ports to a halt, threatening the movement of cargo ahead of Christmas. The lockout will impact shipping operations at ports in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Svitzer Australia, the tugboat operator which […]
Malaysia consistently ranks among Australia’s top ten largest trading partners with two-way trade value amounting to $25 billion. It is also Australia’s second largest trading partner in ASEAN. This week the Minister for Home Affairs has announced that the CPTPP will enter into force for Malaysia on 29 November 2022, leaving only Brunei and Chile […]
