International Trade, Customs and Commercial Law

Gross & Becroft is a specialist legal firm carrying on practice in the areas of International Trade, Customs and Commercial Law.  Our work mainly involves commercial and regulatory issues concerning imports and exports of goods and services and investment.

Current Issues

• Ross Becroft and Louis Gross have again both been named as experts in the Trade Law field and Louis Gross in Customs Law in the 2016 Best Lawyers of Australia published by the Australian Financial Review (having also been named in the previous 3 years). The Guide is based on a comprehensive survey (220,000 evaluations) of lawyers by other lawyers.
• Current issues for 2016 include expanded export trade sanctions (eg Defence Controls permits), regulatory issues concerning internet sales, anti-dumping investigations (eg steel can components), tariff classification and tariff concession issues concerning various products including chemicals, various flooring materials and plastic bags eligibility for TCOs and issues into who is a local manufacturer, eligibility under various Free Trade Agreements, customs valuation issues relating to buying commissions and production assists, numerous matters concerning prohibited or restricted imports, various shipping issues (including enforcement of securities under PPSA) and sale and purchase of freight forwarding businesses.
• Please read our New Articles dealing with classification of wheels for wheelie bins, Asian dumplings and textiles, descriptions of goods in TCO’s and CHAFTA.

Full content on these topics is available under the Articles section of this site.

Contact us if you may have any customs or trade related issue for which you may need advice or representation.

Practice Areas

Since 1984, our firm has regularly dealt with the following types of issues:

CUSTOMS, EXCISE AND OTHER REGULATORY ISSUES

• Tariff Classification of Goods;
• Customs Valuation;
• Tariff Concession Orders (TCO's);
• Quarantine;
• Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties Investigations;
• Issues concerning World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Transport Treaties;
• Rules of Origin;
• Transfer Pricing;
• Excise and Customs Duty on Alcohol, Tobacco, Petroleum and Biodiesel;
• Customs Investigations and Prosecutions;
• Applications under the Enhanced Policy By-Law Scheme (EPBS);
• Government Assistance Schemes (such as SIP).

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• International Sale, Distribution, Agency, Licensing and Royalty Agreements;
• Maritime, Freight, Shipping and Transportation Documentation, Disputes and Trade Finance;
• General Advice to Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders;
• Trading Terms and Conditions;
• Advocacy and Review of Government Policy concerning Customs and Trade matters;
• Barriers and regulations concerning direct foreign investment.

COMMERCIAL LAW

• Trade Practices Issues;
• Contracts;
• Shareholder Agreements, Sale of Business;
• Commercial Litigation;
• Property and Commercial Leases;
• Corporate Insolvency.

For more information on these topics, please see Our Services page

Clients

Our clients include:

• Importers and exporters of finished goods, raw materials and resources;
• Local producers who compete with importers;
• Customs Brokers, Freight Forwarders and Transport Companies that are involved with the movement of goods into and out of Australia;
• Foreign companies interested in investing in operations in Australia and Australian businesses wishing to set up production facilities overseas;
• Organizations representing the collective interests of particular industries affected by international trading;
• Other Businesses or entrepreneurs providing goods or services or investing.

We act for companies of all sizes and also for small start-ups looking to fill niche markets.

Our firm's aim is to provide prompt and practical advice and results-orientated service in dealing with complex legal issues.

Our firm is based in Melbourne, Australia. However, we do undertake work around Australia and internationally.

Should you require advice or assistance, please direct your enquiries by telephone on +61 3 9866 5666 or facsimile on +61 3 9866 5644. Alternative you may contact us by email through our contacts page.