Group Bemoans ongoing Australian Customs IT Fiasco

The recent Australian Customs fiasco has left Customs brokers vulnerable following the crash of the new integrated cargo system that was intended to speed up customs clearance but resulted in freight taking four days to clear when in the past it would have taken 10 minutes.

It is estimated that the backlog at Australian ports and airports may take until January or February to be fully cleared up, and in the meanwhile many forwarders are using paper to lodge their declarations with Customs seven weeks after the launch of the system.

"What should have been a big jump forward for customs clearance procedures in Australia has sent logistics companies back to manual clearances, a huge step in the wrong direction," said a release from Advanced International Networks Ltd.

It said that companies like Bluefreight, a Melbourne based freight forwarder and member of logistics group, Aeroceanetwork, have since October 12 had their daily businesses disrupted by Australian Customs IT problems.

Company director Richard Dexter said: "We are so far behind the eight ball here. I have had to employ more staff and we are working longer hours." And as a result he complained that, "Major retailers are angry because containers are in storage and the goods are not on their shelves. They [the retailers] are squeezing our industry and also the government."

"Some [forwarders] are going broke, some retiring, and others are fed up and switching industries," said Mr. Dexter, who believes the turmoil could have been avoided had Customs heeded warnings more than a month before the IT failure that the new AUD250 million (US$185 million) web based system could not cope with the volume of cargo. Customs only boosted the system's capacity in the aftermath of the disaster.

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