Trade facilitation, combating illegal drugs, customs controls and Australia’s asbestos import ban have been at the centrepiece of discussions between the Australian Border Force and partner agencies in China in late November.
Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg visited China for a series of formal talks.
In Beijing Commissioner Quaedvlieg met with Minister Yu Guangzhou and Vice-Minister Sun Yibiao of the General Administration of China Customs (GACC) to discuss cooperation on a range of trade facilitation and law enforcement issues.
During the meeting the Commissioner recognised the strong cooperation between the two agencies in the area of efforts to counter the illicit flow of methamphetamine to Australia, and agreed with his Chinese counterparts on further cooperation in this regard.
In discussions the ABF and GACC also re-affirmed their commitment to negotiating a Mutual Recognition Arrangement to benefit Chinese authorised economic operators and Australian Trusted Traders with secure supply chains.
The Australian Trusted Trader programme, launched on 1 July 2016, is open to all Australian businesses that are active in international trade and offers a range of trade facilitation benefits to producers in China if certain requirements are met.
The Commissioner also took the opportunity to call on the Guangzhou regional headquarters of GACC, where he discussed operational activity to combat the importation of illegal drugs into Australia.
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