Byline: Alexander Uskhopov

In our latest Customs & Trade alert, Alexander Uskhopov — Associate  in our Customs & Trade group breaks down the details of the new Administrative Review Tribunal as well as the parliamentary inquiry into the effectiveness of Australia’s sanction regime.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) has introduced new customs broker licensing conditions effective from 1 July 2024. These new conditions placed upon licensed customs brokers (brokers) complement more stringent conditions previously imposed on bonded warehouse and depot licences introduced in November 2022.

In a significant development for Australia’s administrative review landscape, the Australian Government has unveiled plans to launch the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) on 14 October, 2024.

This newly established federal body will replace the existing Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), thereby implementing the Labor Government’s election promise to address what were seen as biased political appointments within the AAT.

On 14 May 2024, Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the Federal Budget for 2024-25 (Budget) announcing significant measures in relation to trade, biosecurity, infrastructure, logistics and manufacturing.

Three recent case decisions, two handed down by the Federal Court of Australia (Federal Court) and a third by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), will be of interest to those who may deal with sanctions, GST exemptions and customs duty issues relating to proper tariff classification of imported goods.

On 1 July 2023, the Australian government established the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) under the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022 (NACC Act) to combat corruption and lack of transparency within the federal government and address growing public concerns about corruption of public officials.

On 1 July 2023, the federal government established the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) as Australia’s new federal anti-corruption body. The creation of this new body with wide-ranging powers was the fulfilment of the Albanese government’s election promise to address transparency and corruption issues within the federal government and its various agencies and institutions.

During the recent 2023 G7 Summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, from 19 to 21 May, several participating countries announced a range of new sanctions and export controls to be imposed on Russia, including the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK).

On 9 May 2023, the Australian Federal Treasurer delivered the Australian Federal Budget for 2023-24 (Budget).

Over the past years, the issue of sanctions globally has come to the forefront of public and government discussion largely due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Many businesses that had never previously encountered the issue were forced to deal with sanctions compliance matters.

On 29 March 2022, the Treasurer handed down the Australian Federal Budget for 2022-23 (Budget).