Please find more information about this topic via the https://www.agriculture.gov.au/website where this was originally published.
21 November 2022
Who does this notice affect?
All importers, accredited persons and customs brokers who lodge green coffee beans under tariff 0901.1 to the department for biosecurity assessment.
What has changed?
Effective 21st November 2022, green coffee beans imported under tariff 0901.1 will be in scope for the class 19.2 AEPCOMM approved arrangement as well as the Highly Compliant Importer scheme.
As a result of these changes, green coffee beans will be removed from the Compliance-Based Intervention Scheme (CBIS). Compliant importers who were eligible under the CBIS scheme will have their compliance history recognised under the Highly Compliant Importer (HCI) scheme.
Highly compliant importer (HCI) scheme
HCI aims to deliver on the opportunity to reduce biosecurity controls for importers who demonstrate a high level of ‘voluntary compliance’. HCI aligns with the Biosecurity Compliance Statement where, for certain commodities, the department may reduce border control referrals when strong compliance history is demonstrated.
The Highly Compliant Importer (HCI) functionality for green coffee beans will be managed in the Agriculture Import Management System (AIMS) Q-ruler.
AIMS Q-ruler HCI functionality will have the flexibility to run independently or work in conjunction with AEPCOMM. Importers that use an AEPCOMM accredited brokerage will benefit from the new functionality. If a commodity is eligible for both HCI and AEPCOMM, importers will receive clearance efficiencies for both document assessment and inspection.
There is no application process to qualify for the highly compliant importer scheme. The AIMS Q-ruler will automatically monitor an importer’s compliance history count and automatically place eligible importers onto the scheme once they have reached a set number of consecutive compliant instances.
At this stage, existing HCI profiling in the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) will remain unchanged.
Resources
The coffee for processing for human consumption BICON case and the approved commodities and related information webpage have now been updated to include information in relation to the HCI scheme and the in scope AEPCOMM pathways.
A new highly compliant importer webpage has also been published which provides industry with detailed information on the scheme.
Further information
Please contact AEP Support if you have any further questions in relation to the above information.