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Tuesday, June 1, 2004
Media Release Embargo until 10am Tuesday 1 June 2004 INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS COME TOGETHER WITH CUSTOMS TO DELIVER CMR EXPORTS TRAINING The Australian Federation of International Forwarders Limited (AFIF) and the Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia Inc (CBFCA) have joined forces with the Australian Customs Service (Customs) to deliver high quality training on the IT issues and the business process changes that will commence with the exports release of Cargo Management Re-engineering (CMR). Customs recently announced the cutover date for the Exports release as 5 October 2004 (actual cutover 2am on 6 October 2004) with a two-week transition period commencing on 21 September 2004. Training for industry in preparation for the cutover will commence in July with Customs presenting a series of sessions for those who have not yet attended any previous training CMR export processes. These sessions will be facilitated by Customs. AFIF and the CBFCA, independently with Customs, delivered a number of workshops in 2003 to a significant number of industry members. These workshops were extremely well received by industry for the practical manner in which the information was presented and the up-to-date nature of the content. Both AFIF and the CBFCA believe it is imperative that refresher training be delivered to those of its members who attended their training last year to ensure the timeliness of the information and to address the additional impacts on business processes of the CMR Exports release that have come to light since 2003. The refresher training sessions provided collaboratively with Customs will be offered in all the major capital cities in Australia from July 2004 and will be facilitated by both Customs and AFIF/CBFCA representatives as part of a three-hour information update. All training session attendees will receive a bound booklet which contains in-depth information on the processes and practices that will be introduced to business after 5 October and will include tips and suggestions for business owners and managers, as well as operational staff. AFIF and the CBFCA have also put forward a proposal to the Tradegate Development Fund for funding to provide this essential industry refresher training to the attendees. This funding will enable the two industry associations to deliver these sessions collaboratively with Customs to all sectors of industry and the broader international trade community without additional financial cost to the attendees. It is proposed also that future training after the initial national roll out of collaborative presentations will be available via an Internet-based training opportunity offered by the two industry associations. This will ensure that any industry members who are not able to attend the initial refresher sessions provided by AFIF/CBFCA and Customs will be able to access the training online. This will be a particular advantage to new industry entrants and those requiring a further update at a later time. Subject to the approval of funding by Tradegate, this online training will also be offered without cost to industry.
Further information: Brian Lovell CEO, Australian Federation of International Forwarders Steve Morris, Executive Director, Customs Broker and Forwarders Council of Australia Inc
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