Pre-arrival Reporting by International Cargo Ships
1 July 2005 - Legislation change
Client summary
The purpose of this legislative amendment is to identify international cargo ships as a kind of vessel to which pre-arrival reporting of passengers and crew will apply. Pre-arrival reporting requirements already apply to international passenger aircraft and international passenger cruise ships arriving in Australia, and reporting is conducted using DIMIA's Advance Passenger Processing (APP) system.
The reporting requirement will not take effect until an Instrument of Approval, which specifies the information required by international cargo ships and the system to be used for the reporting has been signed by the Secretary,. This will be subject to the outcome of APP reporting trials with cargo vessels and further consultation with the shipping industry.
Currently, cargo operators or their agents provide passenger and crew information directly to Customs by completing paper forms and faxing them to Customs for arrival processing. When this legislative change comes into effect cargo vessels will instead report directly to DIMIA and the information will be forwarded to Customs.
Technical details
Authority to require passenger and crew reporting from operators of aircraft and ships currently exists in Migration Act 1958 Division 12B - Reporting on passengers and crew of aircraft and ships. This change will introduce into the Migration Regulations (3.13B) a definition for international cargo ships from 1 July 2005.
Additional information: Nil.
Transitional arrangements: Nil.
Forms: Nil.
Instructions: PAM3 - Nil impact at this point in time.
Effect on delegations: Nil.
Effect on systems: Nil.