Australia Customs scrambles to clear cargo after bumpy computer rollout
The Australian Customs Service and the import industry are feverishly working to clear a backlog of containers at ports due to technical glitches and confusion associated with the final switch to a new automated trade reporting system two weeks ago.
The Integrated Cargo System (ICS) — Australia Custom’s version of the Automated Commercial Environment computer system being developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection — is supposed to speed up the processing of customs entries and other import documents. It replaces four existing reporting systems with a single filing system for Australian government agencies. But the ICS’s startup has been marked by severe breakdowns, in which customs clearance notices have not reached ocean terminals and customs brokers so that they can schedule trucks to pick up cargo, according to Australian Customs, the nation’s leading freight forwarding association and media reports. Electronic messages were reported to be hung up in the system for hours at a time.
Australian Customs last summer began a phased transition to the ICS from its 20-year-old import processing system, and required all transactions to be filed in the new system beginning Oct. 12. The export component of the system has been operating since October 2004 and has processed more than four million messages.
The border security and revenue agency acknowledged the severity of the breakdowns in a statement Oct. 19, but added, “It must be remembered that this is one of the largest e-government projects ever undertaken in Australia, and represents a major shift in both import and export cargo management.”
Australian Customs rejected a request by the Australian Federation of International Forwarders and broker groups to revert back to the previous automated reporting system for sea cargo. The agency placed part of the blame on industry for not using the system properly.
“Contrary to some media reports, the new IT system for imports has not failed, nor is its performance solely responsible for the problems that have occurred. The problems experienced in part, flow from inaccurate and incomplete information being submitted by some users, which the new system is designed not to accept for security reasons,” Australia Customs said in a statement Oct. 21.
Industry groups met repeatedly with Australia Customs and other government officials during the past 10 days to find ways to reduce the backlog. Customs convened an industry action group Friday to find solutions to data matching, in-bond movements and other problems.
Eric Roozendaal, ports minister for New South Wales, said at a news conference last week that Port Botany was clearing about 1,200 containers a day, instead of the normal 2,000, according to Australian media accounts. He complained that Customs picked a bad time, the peak Christmas shipping season, to roll out a complicated new system. The Australian Federation of International Forwarders complained the system had not been thoroughly tested, and said it had unsuccessfully pushed to have the system postponed until early next year.
Customs has implemented a number of procedures to try and help importers receive cargo while it works on resolving technical and procedural issues. One week after the system went live, Australian Customs said it had deployed 200 personnel to man a 24-hour help desk to assist brokers and forwarders use the new system, regularly updated recorded messages for callers on hold, and was directing extra teams of inspectors to cargo terminals to clear shipments. The agency also created a Web site with a searchable list of cargo that has been cleared, and loosened some requirements to speed up data matching to get goods cleared faster. To create space on the docks, Customs allowed containers held for inspection to move inland to storage deports and made unspecified arrangements to address problems with automobile imports.
Terminal operators P&O and Patrick Corp. agreed to provide extended hours on weekends so shippers could collect containers, and Customs and the Australian agriculture inspection service said it would work weekend hours to accommodate the moves. Australia Customs said 50 percent of containers had been cleared, and urged industry to make expedited arrangements to collect cargo. The Australian Federation of International Forwarders also urged importers to remain open during the weekend and after normal business hours so that truckers would be able to drop off cargo. As of Friday 8,000 containers had been cleared but had not been picked up in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Stevedores reported they had received few bookings to move import containers over the weekend.
Customs informed the trade during Friday’s meeting that three-fourths of the remaining 50 percent of unreleased cargo has been held because of cargo that was mismatched or has no declaration, according to a rundown of the meeting from Brian Lovell, chief executive officer of the Australian Federation of International Forwarders, posted on the group’s Web site. Customs stated that it requires both the cargo report and import declarations to conduct security risk assessments, and rejected a proposal to temporarily screen cargo based only on the import declaration.
Customs is expected to soon provide advice on whether it is acceptable for carriers to knowingly misreport data ocean bill of lading information in order to force a match between import declarations and cargo reports to prevent cargo delays.
Meanwhile, software provider 1-Stop Connections Pty Ltd. has provided a temporary service to assist industry in confirming the Customs status of their shipments prior to arranging truck transport to pick up containers.
Some drivers were still turned away despite notification on the 1-Stop Web site that cargo had been released because of mismatched voyage numbers, but stevedores have since updated their systems to correct this problem, according to the Lovell memo.
Officials stressed that security had not been compromised by the introduction of the ICS.
“All cargo continues to be risk assessed by Customs and examined as required,” the agency said.
One area that was compromised is data integrity. Customs said it has fixed a problem that allowed some users of the Integrated Cargo System to see other user’s proprietary information, including pricing.
Australia Customs has also set up a process under which it will consider compensating shippers for costs associated with delayed cargo, according to the Australian Federation of International Forwarders. Shippers can submit claims through a special e-mail address. Customs will investigate claims and determine if the delays were caused by the ICS or other unrelated failures.
According to Computerworld Australia, Customs decided plunge forward with the new system despite the problems because Australia’s two major retailers, Coles and Woolworths, have tied major supply chain system overhauls worth billions of dollars to the ICS, and didn’t want to disrupt their operations and add costs to by reverting to the previous system.