21 November 2017
- The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources is proposing changes to the biosecurity cost recovery charges applied to non-broker approved arrangements.
- The changes reduce the annual charge payable by biosecurity industry participants of a single approved arrangement.
Reason for the changes
Since the implementation of the new approved arrangements charge of $2,900, a wide range of views have been provided to the department on the cost recovery structure for these arrangements. Stakeholder concerns relate to perceived inequality across users and the appropriateness of the charge, indicating that in some cases the new annual charge has had an inequitable impact on small to medium businesses, particularly in the broker sector.
In response to this feedback, the department has undertaken a review of the approved arrangement charging framework. The outcome of the review has resulted in a proposed change to the charges.
Who is affected
Biosecurity industry participants will see changes to the biosecurity charges they pay. Biosecurity industry participants with a single approved arrangement site will pay a lower base annual charge. Biosecurity industry participants who have multiple approved arrangement sites will pay an additional annual charge. The impact of the additional annual charge will not exceed $2,900 per ABN. Any revision to current charging arrangements are expected to be implemented from 1 July 2018.
Proposed new charges
The proposed new changes include:
- Biosecurity industry participants with one approved arrangement site will continue to pay an annual charge per ABN, however, this will reduce from $2,900 down to $2,500.
- Biosecurity industry participants that operate more than one approved arrangement site will be subject to the $2,500 charge but will also pay an additional annual charge of $400, no matter how many additional sites they operate (i.e. total annual charge will not exceed $2,900 per ABN).
- Should a biosecurity industry participant operate both a non-broker class of approved arrangement and a broker class, in addition to the annual $2,900 charge, they will also be required to pay an Automatic Entry Processing (AEP) charge of $18 per entry.
Background
Biosecurity approved arrangements are voluntary arrangements entered into with the department. They were introduced as part of the Biosecurity Act 2015, replacing compliance agreements (CAs) and quarantine approved premises (QAPs).
Under the Biosecurity Act 2015, a biosecurity industry participant covered by an approved arrangement is authorised to carry out biosecurity activities to manage biosecurity risks associated with specified goods, premises or other things. Under this arrangement, all participants currently pay an annual charge of $2,900.
Further information
All industry participants are encouraged to provide feedback on the new charging proposals during stakeholder consultation period.
The consultation period has now commenced and will conclude 5 pm AEDT Friday 5 January 2018. Feedback on the proposed changes to approved arrangement charging can be directed to Cost Recovery.