Freight and sourcing coordination

Keep the approved goods, packing plan, delivery responsibilities, goods-ready forecast, booking and Australian import information in one order record. Before confirming a movement, check the people arranging it know what they will collect, where, when and under whose responsibility.

Set the handover point

Record the agreed delivery rule, its precise named place and the services included in the supplier's price. Identify who arranges collection, export formalities, main carriage, insurance if wanted, Australian import clearance and delivery to the receiving point. If a party says it will “handle shipping”, ask which tasks and charges that includes.

When incorporated into a sale agreement, Incoterms® 2020 allocates specified obligations, costs and risk between buyer and seller. State the rule, named place and year in the agreement. Incoterms does not settle product specifications, payment, ownership or remedies for delay. Check that the freight booking and any insurance arrangement fit the purchase agreement.

Allocate tasks through the delivery rule

The rules also allocate costs, including transport, packaging, loading or unloading, and checking or security-related costs.

Use that cost allocation to check which quoted services and charges belong to each party. Record any agreed arrangements outside the rule in the order record, and check that the booking follows the sale agreement.

Connect packed goods to the booking

Ask the supplier when the agreed quantity and variants will be packed and available at the collection point. Keep that forecast separate from production completion. Account for any remaining inspection, correction, packing and document work before confirming a handover.

Give the transport organiser the collection point, destination, cargo description, package count, packed dimensions, gross weights and handling information relevant to the goods. Label estimates. Before booking, if the final pack changes, send revised figures and ask whether the quote or proposed booking needs amendment.

For container sea freight, obtain the cargo, shipping-instruction and verified-gross-mass deadlines that apply to the actual booking. Record each applicable deadline and its owner.

If packed-goods figures change after a container booking is arranged, update the relevant submissions and the shared order record.

Critical Deadlines in Container Sea Freight for Australian Imports

Track carrier submissions by accountable party

For a packed export container, treat verified gross mass (VGM) as a distinct handover rather than assuming the packed weight or shipping instructions cover it. Maersk states that the shipper named on the bill of lading is responsible for providing VGM to the carrier and terminal.

VGM can be determined by weighing the fully loaded container, or by weighing the cargo and packing materials and adding the container’s tare weight. Record who will establish and submit the figure, check the applicable deadline in the booking confirmation, and confirm the carrier has received it. Maersk identifies VGM as a condition of loading.

Prepare the Australian import handoff

Keep potential duties, taxes, freight and handling charges visible as import considerations.

Give a licensed customs broker, if one is used, the current product facts and commercial documents early enough to investigate open questions. Reconcile the invoice, packing list and transport description with the goods being shipped. Leave tariff, origin and permit conclusions to an assessment of the actual shipment.

Make import checks a named handover

Australian Border Force (ABF) clears imported goods through customs on arrival. Unless an exception applies, goods arriving in Australia must be declared to ABF. Business.gov.au says most goods valued up to A$1,000 can be imported without a formal import declaration; that is different from assuming no arrival declaration or other import requirements apply.

Before dispatch, assign an owner to check whether the goods need a permit or must meet clearance requirements such as biosecurity, food safety or drug control. For biosecurity, refer to the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry's BICON system as part of the check. Pass the relevant product facts to the person making that check and keep any open requirement visible to the supplier, transport organiser and import support.

Australian Import Thresholds and Requirements

Record changes and the final handover

When the supplier changes a material, quantity, pack, collection point or ready date, retain the original commitment and record the new fact, evidence, affected order lines and decision owner. Tell the transport organiser, import adviser and receiving team where the change affects their work.

Before dispatch, check that the booked movement, packed goods and documents describe the same shipment. After receipt, record the differences for the next order.

If an import check identifies a permit or other clearance requirement, make it a tracked order action with an owner and status; do not let a general “import support” label conceal an unresolved requirement.