Exports streamlined through customs
Exports streamlined through customs
Australian exports have been passing through customs much more smoothly than ever since July because of an electronic system that allows customs declaration forms to be processed much more quickly and accurately than through paper-based documentation.
Since the soft launch of Tradegate's latest version of ExportNet application in July, over AUS$2 billion worth of Australian exports have been processed through the system.
This new version was created to meet the Customs Cargo Management Re-engineering (CMR) project, which is a new project that has involved a major review of Customs practices.
The CMR project includes the introduction of a new IT system and new legislation, combined with new technologies, provides for the largest change in Customs in over 100 years.
ExportNet conveniently allows users to make Customs declarations through the new CMR system, without the need for PKI and Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs), and enables exporters, their agents and trucking companies to send Pre Receival Advice (PRA) to CSX in Adelaide, and Patrick and P&O Ports Australia wide.
Brian Farquhar, the general manage for Tradegate talked about how much of a difference the ExportNet system has made to the export process.
"Before we had electronic reporting of containers, paper work used to be handed over at the customs gate. The truck drivers never used to really care about this paper work so long as they got the containers off of their trucks. This meant that paper work would often be damaged, or inaccurate.
"Now they don't have to worry about this because the details are all entered in beforehand over the Internet, thanks to ExportNet's web interface.There used to a problem of export information being re-keyed in over and over, which would mean that errors in data entry would occur after a while, but this has been eliminated now by the new system too."
The paper Export Receival Advice (ERA) had been used by the industry for the past 15 years as a 'gate-in' document. Up to sixty percent of all ERA's processed contained errors or omissions resulting in problems for terminal operators, shipping companies and the exporter, who frequently pay for these inefficiencies.
Farquhar added: "There is evidence to show that about 20-30 people use to handle documents in the past from the point of export to the place of destination. We are trying to automate this process so that less people are involved, which mean that less errors will be reported."
Tradegate is looking to create even more improvements to the export process by integrating more IT systems, and there are even plans to create a new system that will make importing much more easier, convenient and quicker too.
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