Australia Announces Reforms to Coastal Trading Regime

 

In its budget this week, Australia's Federal government announced reforms for foreign-flagged vessels operating in the country's waters.

The new measures appear to revert to something similar to the earlier pre-2012 coastal trading system.

In the Budget Paper No 2, Part 2: Expense Measures under the sub-headings "Infrastructure and Regional Development" and "Coastal Shipping Reform", the government announced:

- the introduction of a single Coastal Trading Permit for all ships to replace the current tiered system;

- amending legislation to allow the carriage of petroleum products;

- applying a minimum Australian senior crewing requirement for foreign ships remaining on the coast for more than 183 days in a permit period;

- reducing monthly trade reporting requirements to annual reporting;

- removing exemptions for large ships from the Coastal Trading Permit requirements;

- better aligning employment conditions for ships based in Australia with international standards;

and

- making amendments to the Australian International Shipping Register to improve competition among foreign-flagged ships.