Faced with GST laws that created complex interpretation, inconsistent compliance and an unintended burden on overseas entities, the Australian International Freight Forwarding, Customs Broking, Express Carrier and Removalist industries, in 2006, formed a composite interest group called the Australian International Service Providers (AITSP), comprising:

Australian Federation of International Forwarders (AFIF)
Australian International Movers Association (AIMA)
Confederation of Asia Pacific Express Carriers (CAPEC)
Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia (CBFCA)

Utilising the expertise of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the AITSP combined to tackle the issues related to cross-border transport application of GST by making a formal submission to the Dept of Treasury. The exercise, financed by industry through the use of the Tradegate industry development funds, has been successful in achieving a change in legislation, which became effective as of 1 July 2010.

Included with our recent circulation of a summary of the major changes, was an advice that there are still a number of issues that require clarification from the ATO and these will be subject to further advice.

In the meantime, we hope that the attached webinar created on behalf of our AITSP and narrated by Denis McCarthy of PricewaterhouseCoopers will assist you.

NB: We have been advised that on some IT systems, security Firewalls may prevent the webinar activation. If this occurs, in the first instance contact your IT technician, or, it may be preferable to view through your own home, personal email systems, where appropriate.

Note: The presentation tracking can be moved backwards and forwards by using your mouse click on the slider tracking control at the foot of the screens. It can also be paused and re-started using the standard control at bottom left of screen

To view the audio / visual presentation, please click HERE.

Further enquiries regarding the GST application in relation to the changes may be directed to AFIF by sending an email to afif@afif.asn.au