Notice to industry 2/2009 - Review of the Broker Accreditation Schemes (BAS)

AQIS has recently reviewed the non commodity sections of the Broker Accreditation Schemes to align them with new AQIS documentation policies which were finalised in 2008 as part of the Entry Management project as agreed between the CBFCA and AQIS in April 2007.

The three non-commodity schemes, Containerised Cargo Clearance (CCC) for Full Container Load (FCL/X), Automatic Entry Processing (AEP) for Full Container Loads (FCL) and Less than Container Load (LCL) Packing Scheme, have been combined into one scheme called the Non-Commodity for Containerised Cargo Clearance Scheme. Combining the three schemes will simplify the administration and the interpretation of scheme requirements for both industry and AQIS.

The review is also providing an opportunity to examine the effectiveness of the existing random referral arrangements and the BAS sanctions policy. Industry input is being coordinated through the AQIS/Industry Cargo Consultative Committee (AICCC) Secretariat with AQIS seeking views on alternative options to the current arrangements.

The training course for accredited persons is being rewritten to reflect the new policies and revised scheme. The retraining of existing accredited persons will be done online and is expected to be available mid-April 2009. Under the revised BAS, accredited persons will only need to complete one training package. This means persons will no longer only be accredited under the CCC for FCL/X scheme for example. Further advice on dates will be provided to industry in early March.

The draft documentation has been sent to all existing Compliance Agreement signatories for information and comments. If you are a current signatory and have not yet received your copy please contact the National Compliance Agreement Coordinator by email.