Tony Weber, chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, said the quarantine issue was causing major delays at Australian ports, particularly the Port of Melbourne.
“Increasing demand for new vehicles coupled with the continued recovery of global supply chains and shipping schedules following COVID-19 is putting additional stress on vehicle deliveries at this time,” Weber said.
“Automakers are aware that customers are affected, and that’s why everyone involved … is working together to move vehicles as quickly as possible, while ensuring Australia’s biosecurity borders are protected” .
Exposed to the elements
A spokesman for the Port of Melbourne said the biosecurity risk material (BRM) to be cleared included soil, plant debris, seeds and live insects that were not present in Australia.
“These exotic pests and diseases, if established, pose a real threat to our food production and agriculture industries,” he said.
“We understand that some of the increase in BRM is due to seasonality, but there has also been a significant increase in BRM due to the storage of new vehicles for long periods in paddocks and parking areas due to global supply chain issues.
“This has left the vehicles exposed to the elements, where they inadvertently pick up BRM while at the loading dock.”
Michael Pachota, Managing Director of Suzuki Australia.
Jed Smith, commercial manager at Mirrat, Port Melbourne’s roll-on roll-off car terminal, said the problem had affected almost all brands.
“It is general and affects most importers at all supply points. It is not isolated to a specific region or vehicle,” he said.
Suzuki Australia managing director Michael Pachota said the cleanup and inspection meant customers would have to wait six weeks for deliveries.
“We have worked diligently with the respective authorities to process all the vehicles for speedy dispatch to our dealerships to meet our customers’ expectations,” Pachota said.
“At this stage, no Suzuki vehicles have been refused entry. We have taken steps with our ports of departure and with our shipping lines to minimize any impact on the importation of Suzuki Australia vehicles and comply with all Australian standards.”
Spokesmen for Isuzu, Hyundai and Toyota confirmed the brands had been affected by processing delays, but said none of their vehicles were found to have biosecurity risks.
A delay of three months is not unusual, and we have seen up to 18 months.
— Nigel Malcolm, Fleetcare
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirmed that the increase in biosecurity risk material in new imported vehicles was due to a “large number of commercial factors”, including the storage of vehicles in paddocks or car parks abroad.
Figures from the FCAI showed that new vehicle sales last month were at their strongest level since January 2018. Sales rose 11.9% to 84,873 in January, compared with a year ago, when people were still wary of going out as the omicron variant of COVID-19 spread rapidly.
NSW had the biggest percentage jump of any state, with sales up 15 per cent to 26,484, followed by Queensland up 14.3 per cent to 18,766 and South Australia, which was up 11.9 per cent high at 5,786.
Nigel Malcolm, who heads Perth-based fleet management company Fleetcare, said the quarantine issue would add to existing delivery headaches.
“Cars can arrive days, weeks or months after you order them. A three-month delay is not unusual, and we’ve seen up to 18 months,” he said.
