Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has announced an increase in its fees, including multiple charges related to the inspection process for personal effects.
According to the Australian International Movers Association (AIMA), the increase will be effective as of July 1, 2023, and will see fees charged to movers handling personal items rise by approximately 25 per cent.
The association also said DAFF has also changed how it charges for time for onsite personal effects inspections, which ‘could see significantly higher charges.’ It added that the full impact of the changes will only become clear after July 1.
It said that it expects transitional difficulties to occur in situations where items are being held for biosecurity reasons. ‘Currently when an item is held aside for treatment, the rest of the consignment can be delivered. In the new process, nothing will be able to be delivered until such time as the affected item treatment has been completed. This could cause significant delays,’ it said, adding that it had only recently been advised of the changes.
‘Please discuss with your Australian industry partner to see what impact this might have on the cost of quarantine inspections,’ it stated.
