media release

New partnership agreement signed with China Customs - 12 October 2012

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service yesterday marked 40 years of bilateral co-operation between Australia and China with the signing of a new strategic partnership.

The agreement with China Customs is the most comprehensive and ambitious to be signed between the two Customs agencies.

The Acting CEO of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, Michael Pezzullo, and Vice Minister of the General Administration of China Customs, Lu Peijun, signed the agreement during bilateral meetings yesterday.

Mr Pezzullo said the agreement would continue to ensure the smooth flow of legitimate travel and trade between the two nations, while stepping up the fight against the cross-border movement of illegal goods.

“The growing trade and travel links between our two nations highlight both the importance of the bilateral relationship and the need for strong co-operation between border management agencies,” Mr Pezzullo said.

Today’s agreement commits both agencies to enhanced co-operation in six key areas.

These are the targeting of port-to-port cargo movements, the international mail environment, trade data exchange, co-operation on trade facilitation measures, an exchange of cargo clearance procedures, and co-operation focused on responding to the increased movement of ContacNT between the two nations.

ContacNT is a pharmaceutical product which contains pseudoephedrine. It has become a key precursor chemical for illicit drug manufacture in Australia.

Mr Pezzullo said Customs and Border Protection and China Customs had enjoyed a long history of close co-operation since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between Australia and China in 1972.

He said both Customs agencies would also work to provide leadership to other Customs administrations in the region during the two-year period of Australia’s Vice-Chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific region of the World Customs Organization.

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service took over the rotating role from Thai Customs earlier this year.

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