The Australia-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement (A-HKFTA) entered into force on 17 January 2020.

This FTA opens a new chapter on our economic relations between Australia and Hong Kong. The trade agreement provides Australian businesses with certainty in relation to trade and investment activities in Hong Kong. It also highlights the value Australia places on the independence enjoyed by Hong Kong through the "One Country, Two Systems" structure.

Hong Kong is an attractive export destination for Australia. In 2018, Australia's total goods and services exports to Hong Kong were valued at $13.4 billion. Hong Kong was our fifth largest source of total foreign investment, with a stock of $118.8 billion at the end of 2018. Hong Kong was our eleventh largest destination for total Australian investment, with a stock of $52 billion at the end of 2018.

The Australia-Hong Kong FTA strengthens Australia's relations with one of its most significant trade and investment partners. The A-HKFTA will provide increased certainty for Australian service providers and investors. It will lock in continued access to the Hong Kong Market for Australian exporters of education, financial and professional services, as well as guarantee that Hong Kong will not apply tariffs to Australian goods in the future.

For more information relating to the A-HKFTA, please click here.

Australia’s joint agency Illicit Tobacco Taskforce (ITTF) seized three large shipments of illicit tobacco worth more than $11 million in evaded duty over the holiday period thanks to the strong partnerships it has built with international counterpart agencies.

On Boxing Day, following a tip-off from the Korean Customs Service, and with assistance from Singapore Customs, the Australian Border Force (ABF) led ITTF seized about one million illicit cigarettes from an air cargo shipment as it arrived into Sydney. The cigarettes were mis-declared at the border with an estimated evaded duty of $1 million.

On 27 December, the ABF ITTF was notified by another overseas partner agency to a shipment arriving into Melbourne that they suspected to be undeclared cigarettes. The ABF examined the container and discovered 9.8 million cigarettes fraudulently declared as ‘dough mixers, cake fridges and freezers’ with the estimated duty evasion at nearly $9 million.

In early January, a sea cargo shipment arrived into Melbourne from Hong Kong and was found to contain more than 1.5 tonnes of rough-cut tobacco concealed within tabletops. This detection was a result of information passed on from Hong Kong authorities and would not have been possible without the cooperation of Hong Kong Customs and Excise. This shipment had an estimated evaded duty value of $1.9 million.

"Successful offshore disruption of criminal syndicates who trade in illicit tobacco is only possible through international cooperation and building strong networks overseas. The sharing of intelligence with our overseas counterparts assists foreign law enforcement agencies to dismantle the criminal syndicates trading in illicit tobacco.” said Acting Commander ABF Special Investigations, Leo Lahey.

The maximum penalty for tobacco smuggling is 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to five times the amount of duty evaded.

A joint media release by Australian Border Force(ABF) and Australian Federal Police(AFP) advised that a 42-year-old Portuguese national has been charged by the AFP with importing cocaine, after ABF officers at Perth Airport allegedly located several kilograms of the drug concealed inside bottles of toiletries in her baggage.

The woman arrived on a flight from Doha, Qatar on Sunday 29 December and was questioned by an ABF Border clearance officer before being sent for a full baggage examination. It is alleged six plastic bottles of toiletry products inside her suitcase returned positive readings for cocaine. The total weight for the bottles was just under five kilograms, however the exact weight of the alleged substance is yet to be determined.

The woman’s Tourist Visa was cancelled and she was arrested by AFP officers and charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, namely cocaine. The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.

The MV Duke tanker ship was attacked on 15 December in the Gulf of Guinea by pirates, with one crew member avoiding capture while the rest were kidnapped.

After over a month in captivity, the nineteen crew members of the vessel were released but according to a statement issued by the Union Maritime Ltd and V.Ships Management(India), one crew member, an able seamen was confirmed dead, apparently from illness.

“We are seeking further information from those crew members that have been released and a full investigation will be held into the able seamen demise,” the statement read.

“All our sympathies and condolences go out to next of kin, family and friends at this tragic time. The able seamen’s immediate family have been informed and are being supported.”

We can't guarantee these jokes are funny but we hope they'll ease you into the weekend!

I was going to quit all my bad habits for the new year...
But then I remembered that nobody likes a quitter.

At the beginning of this year I made a New Year's resolution to lose 10 pounds ...
Only 15 more to go!

My friend asked me where I see myself in the new year.
How would I know? I don't have 2020 vision.

The year 2020 is going to be filled with so many puns about perfect vision ...
I can't wait to see them all.

I can't wait till New Year's Day 2021.
Then I can say hindsight is really 2020.