In April 2006 MAF distributed a discussion document titled Clearance costs and Organism Identification Requirements. The document described a review of the cargo clearance costs of services provided by MAF. These services include the inspection and clearances of containers, used vehicles and machinery, pest and disease identification for border clearances, offshore inspection of ships, approval of permits issued under import health standards, approval and audit of transitional and containment facilities and facility operators, and inspection and clearance of unaccompanied baggage or personal effects.
Modifications have been made to some of the proposals contained in the Clearance Costs and Organism Identification Requirements in light of the consultation feedback and changes in trade volumes and some costs.
Since finalisation of the discussion document in March:
- the volume of used vehicles, containers and general cargo has fallen further than anticipated;
- the report of the Office of the Auditor General on Managing Biosecurity Risks Associated with High Risk Sea Containers has been released recommending that MAF undertake additional work on containers (we have included as an appendix the summary of recommendations from the report)
- some further costs have been identified;
- submitters have noted the need to ensure the changes are implemented properly.
The charges to be included in the regulations and levies need to be sustainable for the next 3 to 4 years to support the clearance activities undertaken by MAF. In light of the above, MAF will now be recommending:
- all new charges come into force on 1 September as opposed to 1 July to allow more effective implementation and meet legal requirements;
- an increase in the border entry levy, to be renamed the biosecurity risk screening levy, from $2.25 (i.e. $2 plus GST) to $3.38 (i.e. $3 plus GST) to fund more risk profiling effort and systems development, as recommended by the Office of the Auditor General report and further internal work;
- an increase in the sea container levy from proposed $5 for empties and $13 for loaded to $7 for empties and $16 for loaded containers to enable more work to be undertaken on sea containers, again as recommended by the Office of the Auditor General report and further internal work;
- no change to the proposed new fees for used vehicles; i.e. the new fees will remain at $15 for motorcycles, $25 for light vehicles (which is a reduction on the current fee), $50 for heavy vehicles and an hourly rate for equipment,
- the hourly MAF Quarantine Service inspection rate will be increased from $98 to $100 per hour, in light of the delay in implementing the new fees and to ensure sustainability of this fee for 2-3 years.
The biosecurity risk screening levy will now be memorandum accounted along with vehicle inspection fees and the sea container levy. Memorandum accounting means that if for example, trade volumes were to increase and MAF was to earn more funds than needed, the excess funds could be returned the following year by way of lower charges.
MAF has also been considering the method of collecting levies on sea containers. MAF had initially thought that it may be able to collect the levy directly from importers. Further investigation indicates that collection of levies from each importer would be impractical. Following discussions with shipping companies, MAF now considers that the current system of collection by shipping companies can be simplified and improved. MAF now proposes that within an agreed time (for example,14 days after the end of the month) shipping companies would supply MAF with a breakdown of the number of full and empty containers landed in New Zealand during the previous month. MAF would raise a single invoice for that shipping company, based on the above information. MAF would audit the payments periodically based on information supplied from port companies.
If you wish to provide MAF with feedback on any of the above changes described in this letter please do so by the 14 June 2006 to Elizabeth.Paterson@maf.govt.nz
A summary of submissions made as part of the consultation process, and the MAF response to those submissions, will be forwarded to all those that made submissions and will also be available on request.
Appendix
Recommendations of the Auditor-General
We recommend that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry:
- enforce the requirement of the Import Health Standard for Sea Containers from All Countries for importers to provide information on the destination of a container once it leaves the wharf;
- investigate and implement measures to secure greater compliance with the Import Health Standard for Sea Containers from All Countries;
- ensure that processes are consistently followed for dealing with sea containers that arrive without a quarantine declaration or with an incorrect quarantine declaration;
- work with the New Zealand Customs Service to address existing limitations for the electronic recording of biosecurity information for sea containers, and the inability to confirm that all high-risk sea containers are being identified;
- enter the results of sea container checks by accredited persons into QuanCargo in a timely manner;
- ensure that information on the nature of contamination found by contractors during the decontamination of sea containers is recorded for risk-profiling purposes;
- prepare a national on-the-job training programme for use by trainer-assessors or people with this responsibility;
- make available to all its relevant worksites staff who are experienced in training, and that it support staff with training responsibilities so that on-the-job training is not compromised by the need to complete routine work;
- provide written guidance on the action to be taken when contamination is found on or in sea containers;
- keep import health standards and procedure documents up to date;
- take measures, where timeframes for inspecting sea containers cannot be met, to mitigate the risk of pests moving off sea containers and becoming established;
- investigate options for providing better assurance that fumigation is effective in eradicating pests;
- carry out audits of fumigation operators at the required intervals;
- improve management and monitoring of the practices of decontamination facilities; and
- prepare guidance and procedures for setting up equivalent systems under the Import Health Standard for Sea Containers from All Countries, which include monitoring requirements to ensure that the equivalent system is adequately managing biosecurity risks.
Contact for Enquiries
Elizabeth Paterson
Policy Analyst
Biosecurity New Zealand
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64 4 894 0407
Fax: +64 4 894 0730
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