MUA loses appeal against Patrick productivity go-slow ruling
A Fair Work Commission (FWC) appeal has been fundamentally lost by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), which challenged an earlier decision in favour of the stevedore, Patrick.
Patrick had alleged before the commission that the MUA had imposed a productivity cap of about 260 box moves per crane gang at its Port Botany terminal and that a series of absenteeism and “unvolunteering” from previously agreed to overtime had been organised by the MUA.
The MUA and its officials denied that any industrial action was taking place at all.
A dispute broke out earlier this year after Patrick introduced an automated work allocation system; work allocation was previously done by an MUA member.
Persons unknown then promptly disconnected the work allocation kiosks.
Absenteeism increased and the workforce began to ‘un-volunteer’ from shifts.
The FWC’s vice president Watson decided in favour of Patrick in July this year.
“I find that covert industrial action has occurred and continues to occur at the Port Botany terminal… I find on the evidence that the MUA through its delegates and/or its officials is organised and is involved in the industrial action that is taking place,” VP Watson ruled.
The MUA promptly appealed to a full, three-judge bench, of the commission arguing on various technical legal grounds that it was not open to VP Watson to decide as he did.
However, the MUA did not succeed on these grounds and the earlier decision was, in large, confirmed.
The full bench made some relatively minor variations to an earlier order of VP Watson ordering that the productivity cap imposed by the MUA and the general go-slow to stop and not re-occur.
Confusion reigns on China GST
Australian freight logistics and international trade sectors need clarification on the China value-added tax (VAT) to help navigate their way through a myriad of evolving commercial practices.
Confusion reigns particularly on prepaid airfreight whereby inconsistent practices are being deployed by many Chinese forwarders and multi-nationals.
Sea freight appears to be less of an issue due to the extended use of collect shipping line contracts generating automatic exemptions.
However uncertainty remains when the VAT applies at origin.
By way of background, the China Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation issued a circular on May 24 announcing the expansion of the VAT Reform Pilot on a nationwide basis.
Certain revisions to the pilot regulations in this nationwide application of the VAT program resulted in a 6% VAT charge assessed on
transportation charges and freight forwarding services billed and paid in China.
The VAT reform pilot program for the transportation sectors started in Shanghai on January 1, 2012 and subsequently expanded to eight other cities/provinces during 2012.
The People's Republic of China State Council determined in April, 2013 that the limited application of the VAT pilot distorted competition, and called for the nationwide application of the VAT program.
Unfortunately, the guidelines for nationwide VAT implementation abolished certain policies existing under the VAT pilot.
Under the VAT pilot, forwarders and other transportation providers could effectively invoice international transportation and freight forwarding services as "VAT inclusive" – without billing the VAT to client shippers.
Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA), in partnership with Lloyds List Australia, has acted as an information hub for the sharing of information via ongoing commercial updates and commentaries.
There is a need for industry to continue to share “intelligence” on this issue to assist in piecing together current practices and legal requirements. So please do not stop now … share your views, experience of operational issues and let us know your thoughts.
FTA is hosting breakfast forums in Melbourne (15 November) and Sydney (27 November) to address operational issues and you are encouraged to come along to share views and to hear from local and international guest speakers.
For further information please refer to the feature article at www.ftalliance.com.au
Source: Lloyds List
Suez closure would not frustrate charter party, lawyers warn
Closure of the Suez Canal would be unlikely to frustrate a voyage charter contract, and shipowners could conceivably find themselves footing a hefty bill for having to take cargoes round the Cape of Good Hope instead, say leading shipping lawyers.
The situation becomes further complicated on a laden voyage, as the owner will owe additional obligations to the bill of lading holder.
The Egyptian government, of course, has strong incentives to ensure the continued operation of the key waterway linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, not least because it is a key foreign exchange earner.
Recent moves by the army to bolster protection along the canal have significantly reduced the risk of attack.
However, the unthinkable has happened twice, once between 1956-1957 following a bungled armed intervention by the UK, France and Israel when the canal was nationalised, and again between 1967-1975, after the Six-Day War between the Arab states and Israel.
It may therefore be prudent to amend charter parties to shield from such consequences by building in what has been called a ‘Suez closure surcharge’.
The situation on the ground is clearly volatile and a Cosco containership, Cosco Asia, transiting mid-year was subject to what appears to have been a terrorist attack. Fortunately, the vessel emerged with little or no damage.
Japan to start new 24-hour customs notice policy
Containerised cargo headed from Australian ports for delivery to Japanese ports is to be subject to new, more strict, Japanese customs regulations. Japanese customs will enforce new guidelines requiring vessel operators or non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCC) to submit an electronic cargo manifest.
The manifest will need to detail container cargoes that are proposed for entry to a Japanese port no later than 24 hours before vessel departs from the port of loading.
This policy will apply from March, 10 2014.
Exclusions include empty containers, cargo loaded on platforms (i.e. breakbulk) and foreign remaining on board (FROB) cargo.
After submitting the cargo manifest, Japanese customs will review and issue “Do Not Load“ or “Hold” notices for cargo seemed a risk to Japanese security.
Cargo which still has a “Do Not Load" or “Hold” notice attached to it during loading time won’t be loaded to the intended vessel.
Failure to conform and not submit details of the cargo content within the required time can result in prison sentences of up to one year or fines of up to JPY500,000 (A$5237).
Australian naval sailors detain Somali pirates
Australian sailors from the HMAS Melbourne captured nine Somali pirates and destroyed two skiffs after a board-and-search operation following recent attacks on two vessels in the Indian Ocean.
The warship’s Seahawk helicopter pinpointed the pirate skiffs around 500 nautical miles from the Somali coast.
The hunt began after the pirates exchanged gunfire with the crude oil tanker Island Splendor, before attacking a Spanish fishing vessel three days later.
“It is clear that there are still pirates out there determined to generate income from taking merchant ships hostage. Mariners have been served a timely reminder of the perils of transiting the Somali coastline,” said HMAS Melbourne’s commanding officer Brian Schlegel.
Staff from Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, one of three task forces operated by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), coordinated the operation on-board the RFA Fort Victoria.
One of the counter piracy task force’s areas of responsibility is to patrol the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden. Its Area Of Responsibility stretches from the Strait of Hormuz down to the Seychells and from the Red Sea to half way across the Indian Ocean.
RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) Fort Victoria helped coordinate the attack with the support of the HMAS Melbourne, in addition to South Korean ship Wang Geon, European Union flagship HMLMS Johan de Witt and a Seychelles-based maritime patrol aircraft from Luxembourg.
CMF is a multinational naval partnership of 29 nations. They rotate command on a four-to-six month basis. All three task forces are co-located at US Naval Support Activity, Bahrain.
Import Processing Charge restructure
The previous Labor government proposed in their May 2013 budget that the Import Processing Charge (IPC), be “restructured” from January 1, 2014 to recover the costs of all import related cargo and trade functions undertaken by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS).
The proposed IPC quantum for consignments valued over $10,000 (increasing by $102.60 to $152.60 per sea freight consignment and by $81.90 to $122.10 per airfreight consignment) will place a significant cost burden on importers and will adversely affect cash flow for intermediary Australian logistics service providers.
This approach places an unfair burden on the import sector.
A more equitable arrangement would be for an appropriate proportion of operating costs to be borne by the Australian taxpayer in line with the ACBPS border and community protection role.
Bearing in mind that the IPC is payable against each Import Declaration, the magnitude of the financial impact may further increase depending on the outcome of our ongoing advocacy pertaining to reforms relating to the assembly order (multiple supplier) cargo reporting requirements and ACBPS clearance requirements.
The Australian retail sector in particular will feel the impact of these increased charges as it provides a further commercial advantage to entities that purchase and import goods online due to the current policy of consignments valued under $1000 being exempt from paying duty, GST and any form of IPC.
Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) recommended that ACBPS initiate a review of the IPC charging regime and extensively engage with industry prior to any restructure of current arrangements.
