DAFF Closed for the Holidays

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry released a notice last week about their upcoming holiday period closures.

DAFF Canberra Office will cease operations from the close of business on the 22nd of December and reopen at the commencement of business on the 2nd of January. The Canberra switchboard will also cease operations for this period. Switchboards outside of Canberra will be operating at a reduced capacity.

DAFF’s general enquiry line will not operate between the 23rd and 26th of December and again between the 30th of December and the 1st of January. Online portals and lodgement systems will remain available during this time, however, any activities requiring staff will only be done on days that DAFF is open.

All Department functions will resume in full capacity on the 2nd of January.

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry regional offices will operate as follows:

Forms requesting overtime for an import document assessment and treatment result assessment are available here.

Self-assessed clearance assessment activities will operate as normal over the shutdown period.

Assessment Services Exports

• Assessment Services Exports will be closed on the following days:
  • Monday, 25 December and Tuesday, 26 December 2023
  • Monday, 1 January 2024.
• Assessment Services Exports will be open on the following days:
  • Wednesday, 27 December 2023 through Friday, 29 December 2023.
• DAFF regular client service standards apply during this period, it is the clients’ obligation to submit correctly completed documents, allowing Assessment Services Exports:
  • 1 business day to process your air freight lodgement.
  • 3 business days to process your sea freight lodgement.
• Clients requiring Request for Permit (RFP) authorisations and/or certificate collections on the days when offices are closed will be required to submit an overtime request
• Clients submitting overtime requests are required to use the following email subject header:
  • Client Query – OT Application; [insert day, date, time] Client: [insert client name]
• Overtime request emails for service on 23, 24, 25 and 26 December 2023 (when offices are closed), must be sent by 2 pm (AEDT) on Thursday, 21 December 2023.
• Overtime request emails for service on 1 January 2024 (when offices are closed), must be sent by 2 pm (AEDT) on Thursday, 28 December 2023.
• Overtime fees (when applicable) will be charged per the department’s charging guidelines, which can be found on DAFF’s website.

To stay up-to-date with the latest updates and other industry news head to the Freightplus Newsroom or get in contact with the Freightplus team.