TradeLane

The long discussed, debated, and awaited China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), which was first proposed in 1999 and since then has been in the works, was finally signed on June 17, 2015 in Canberra.

With China-Australia Free Trade Agreement having been the third in the quick succession of three Free Trade Agreements Australia signed with its major trading partners, Korea, Japan and China in almost one year, Australia's exports and GDP are predicted to grow significantly.

In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan set sail on an expedition to be the first person to successfully cross the Pacific Ocean. Relying heavily on the navigational technology of his time he would have depended upon instruments such as hour glasses, palnispheres, quadrants and compasses, all of which would have been considered high technology.

China is under immense pressure to provide both a smooth and secure trade environment considering their role as one of the leading merchandise traders in the world. Cumbersome Custom formalities imposed on imports and exports have caused issues for the entire industry.

Suppose a company is located and registered in a landlocked province like Jiangxi or Sichuan where their inbound ocean freight will first land in coastal areas such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, or Xiamen. Traditionally, the company would be required to clear its imports with customs at the point of entry which means important decisions, physical inspections of goods, and taxes/duties all occur with your business presence and support hundreds of miles away.

Just a quick note to give all of you blanket flaggers and possibly even some of you Entry by Entry flaggers a heads up. Five times in the past three weeks I have been advised by importers that information pulled from ACE does NOT show 100% of their summaries with reconciliation flag (indicator) codes. Some might say that common sense should tell you that as a blanket flagger you should KNOW that all of your imports are being flagged for reconciliation. But, reality is – well, reality! People tasked with preparing reconciliation filings aren’t always “in the know” with respect to their company’s flagging set ups and the first thing they do after pulling a report from ACE is to dump all the summaries that don’t have reconciliation indicator codes.

At the beginning of the year I, like almost everyone else on the planet, made a couple of resolutions. And like almost everyone else on the planet, I kept them for about a week.  All but one that is. This year, as in years past I resolved to eat healthier, exercise and lose some a lot of weight. Three months in and overall I’m doing pretty well. I’ve changed a lot of what I put in my body; no more pop, no more fast food, a ton more fruits and vegetables. I joined a gym for the first time in my life and work out 4 – 5 times a week. Now, don’t get me wrong, not every week has been great. In fact, there have been a few times I have struggled and wanted to throw in the towel. And for a few days last month, I did. I’d lost a good amount of weight, was tired of eating “healthy” and perhaps mostly, tired of getting up a 5:00 am every morning to go to the gym. So, for about 4 days in a row I slept in, stopped counting my calories and just let it go. Then on day 5, out of curiosity, I stepped on the scale. Ouch! It is amazing how much can happen in such a short amount of time when you stop paying attention and do not notice the changes occurring in your process or routine – how one piece of cheesecake, if not served in a controlled portion, can throw everything out of whack.