Terms of Use

Read our terms and guidelines for using TradeClear.

Changes to our terms of use

We've updated our terms of use to:

  • reflect that you can use TradeClear to access multiple department services and systems through a single account
  • clarify your responsibilities when you act on behalf of a business or organisation
  • update privacy, security and information management requirements.

Terminology

In these Terms of Use, the following words have the meanings given below:

TradeClear means the online platform we make available to facilitate export and biosecurity activities. TradeClear is currently in a beta phase, so its functionality changes from time to time.

TradeClear account means the account you create to access and use TradeClear.

Harmful Code means any form of harmful surreptitious code or other contaminants, including viruses, bugs, trojan horses, denial of service, spyware, malware or adware.

Intellectual Property Rights means:

  • any registered or unregistered intellectual property rights including patents or any rights concerning any discovery, invention, process, improvement or procedure; trade marks (whether registered or not); copyright; registered or registrable designs; or other proprietary information and all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields; and
  • any right to apply for registration or protection of the rights referred to above,

and includes moral rights (as defined in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)).

Our Systems includes any of our systems that you can access through the use of TradeClear.

Relevant or Protected Information means either or both “relevant information” or “protected information” as those terms are defined in the Export Control Act 2020 (Cth) or the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) and as updated from time to time.

Terms means these terms of use.

Vulnerability means any actual or suspected deficiency, defect, error, omission or flaw by which any person may gain unauthorised access to Our Systems or TradeClear, or any information in Our Systems or TradeClear, or otherwise compromise the integrity or security of Our Systems or TradeClear in any way. For clarity, this includes the effects of Harmful Code on Our Systems or TradeClear.

We, us and our refers to the Commonwealth of Australia, as represented by the Department of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and includes any successor Government entity which is (from time to time) responsible for the operation of TradeClear.

You and your refer to, when using TradeClear, each registered user of TradeClear and your business or organisation, if you are a representative of a business or organisation.

Your Organisation has the meaning set out in clause 3.2.

General

These Terms relate to the use of TradeClear and explain our obligations and your obligations in connection with TradeClear.

By agreeing to these Terms, you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and agreed to be legally bound by these Terms, as updated from time to time. You agree that you (and your Organisation, if applicable) will obtain valuable consideration from accessing and using TradeClear.

Application of these Terms to you and your Organisation

These Terms apply to you (in your personal capacity) in connection with your use of TradeClear.

If you use (or intend to use) TradeClear on behalf of, or as part of your role with a business or organisation, then these Terms apply to that business or organisation. That business or organisation is referred to in these terms as ‘your Organisation’.

If clause 3.2 applies, your rights, obligations, warranties, acknowledgements, representations, releases and indemnities set out in these Terms will also be:

rights and obligations of; or

warranties, acknowledgements, representations, releases and indemnities by,

your Organisation.

When you accept these Terms (for example, as part of creating an account or later when the Terms are updated), you are:

accepting and agreeing to these Terms on your own behalf and (if clause 3.2 applies) on behalf of your Organisation; and

if clause 3.2 applies, warranting to us that you are an agent of your Organisation and that you are properly authorised by your Organisation to represent your Organisation and to bind it to these Terms.

If clause 3.2 applies, your Organisation acknowledges and agrees that it is responsible for your activities, and the activities of its other personnel (each an Organisation User), in connection with TradeClear. This includes:

any failure by an Organisation User to comply with these Terms;

the accuracy of any representations or warranties made by the Organisation Users as set out in these Terms or otherwise in connection with TradeClear;

the accuracy of any other information provided by the Organisation Users via or in connection with TradeClear;

use of TradeClear by the Organisation Users; and

any other act or omission by an Organisation User in connection with TradeClear that affects us, TradeClear or any other users of TradeClear.

While you use TradeClear for or on behalf of your Organisation, you will ensure that:

your Organisation has appointed you to access TradeClear on its behalf, and that appointment has not been revoked;

if that appointment is based on you holding a certain position, for example, as an employee or agent, you currently hold that position; and

you have the required authority to act on behalf of your Organisation in connection with TradeClear.

You must stop using TradeClear on behalf of your Organisation if your appointment is revoked by that business or organisation, or where you are no longer authorised to access or use TradeClear on behalf of your Organisation, including if you no longer hold the relevant position.

You will comply with any request made by us for you to verify any of the matters set out in clause 3.6.

Without limiting any of the rights or remedies we may have under these Terms or at law, if we discover that any Organisation User has misused TradeClear, provided any false or misleading information in connection with TradeClear or breached these Terms, then we may notify the relevant business or organisation (or its other users).

If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of a non-corporate Commonwealth entity (as defined in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth)), we acknowledge that these Terms are not legally binding on that entity. Nevertheless:

you are bound and must comply with these Terms; and

the non-corporate Commonwealth entity must comply with these Terms as though it is legally bound by these Terms.

Using TradeClear

Creating an account

Before using TradeClear to access your authenticated services or applications, you will first need to create an account with us.

More information about the processes for registration is set out in clauses 4.6 and 4.7 below. We may update the processes and requirements for registration from time to time.

When you create an account, you:

warrant that any information you provide (including any declarations you make) during the process of creating an account or otherwise, is true and accurate; and

acknowledge and agree that we are relying upon the truth and accuracy of all information, consents and declarations provided and made by you in registering your account for, adding or inviting other users for, or otherwise using, TradeClear.

Without limiting clause 4.3.2, you acknowledge that giving false or misleading information to a Commonwealth entity is a serious offence under section137.1 of the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

We may notify you of additional specific requirements in relation to your account registration from time to time. You must comply with those requirements if you wish to continue using TradeClear.

Creating a TradeClear account

We may invite you to, or you may request to, create a TradeClear account. You must create that account for yourself and not on behalf of another person. For clarity, this is not intended to prevent you from using TradeClear to act on behalf of a business or organisation, as further described below.

When you create an account, you warrant to us that you are not misrepresenting your identity or your authority to act on behalf of any business or organisation.

Using TradeClear on behalf of your Organisation

While you are using TradeClear on behalf of your Organisation, you must:

only use your Organisation’s full registered name or business name when adding a business name to TradeClear, and you must not use any slogans, brands or marketing elements as part of the account name; and

where required, provide your Organisation’s ABN and ACN (if your Organisation has one).

TradeClear may permit you to ‘add’ or ‘invite’ other people who will also be authorised to act on behalf of your Organisation. You must ensure that:

you only issue an invitation to a person to the extent that you are permitted to do so under your authority to act on behalf of your Organisation;

each person you add to use TradeClear for your Organisation is duly authorised to use TradeClear on behalf of your Organisation, and will be able to access all information relevant to your Organisation;

if you become aware that a person you have added or invited is not authorised (or is no longer authorised) to use TradeClear on behalf of your Organisation, then you must immediately restrict or remove that person’s authorisation to act on behalf of your Organisation; and

before you provide us with personal information or sensitive information (within the meaning of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)) or Relevant or Protected Information about another person, that person has consented to the disclosure of that information.

Using our Systems in TradeClear

If you wish to use our Systems in TradeClear, you must link your TradeClear account with your existing profile. This may be done by following the relevant prompts within TradeClear and providing the email address linked to your existing profile.

You may be prompted or required to provide additional information to link your TradeClear account with your TRACE profile. For example, if you are an Accredited Veterinarian (AAV) for the purposes of the Export Control Act 2020 (Cth) and the Export Control (Animals) Rules 2021 (Cth), you may be required to provide your AAV number and date of birth.

Your use of our Systems may be subject to additional terms of use that apply to those particular Systems (System Terms). You must accept and comply with any applicable System Terms when accessing and using our Systems.

Your responsibilities

While accessing and using TradeClear, you agree that:

you have been informed of and have understood the Privacy Policy, opens in a new tab, the Privacy, opens in a new tab collection notice in respect ofTradeClear, and the other rights in respect of your personal information set out in these Terms;

that users of TradeClear may be held legally accountable for actions undertaken using TradeClear, including under the Export Control Act 2020 (Cth), Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) and Imported Food Control Act 1992 (Cth);

that businesses or organisations may be held legally accountable for actions undertaken by their personnel using TradeClear, including under the Export Control Act 2020 (Cth), Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) and Imported Food Control Act 1992 (Cth); ;

any information or documentation you provide or submit to us will be accurate and complete and (where relevant) will contain the type of information required to be contained in that documentation;

you will comply with any Systems Terms or other disclaimers or terms of use that apply to the use of our Systems or any third party systems, including as notified or updated from time to time;

you will only use TradeClear for its intended purpose, for lawful purposes, and in a manner that does not infringe the rights of or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of TradeClear by us or any third party;

your use of TradeClear will be done in a manner that complies with all applicable legislation including the Export Control Act 2020 (Cth), Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) and Imported Food Control Act 1992 (Cth), the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth);

you will use TradeClear strictly in accordance with these Terms, and all notices, protocols, guidelines and other instructions provided or advised by us from time to time;

you will not impersonate any person or falsely represent your association with any person or business or organisation (including us);

you will not to access or attempt to access or use information that you are not authorised to access or use;

you will not transmit any message, data, image or program that would violate the property rights of others, including Intellectual Property Rights trade secrets or confidential information;

you will not interfere with the rights of others to use TradeClear;

you will not attempt to access any data or information belonging to any other user of TradeClear;

you will not attempt to modify, adapt, translate, sell, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of TradeClear, including through the use of automated tools;

you will not use any scripts or processes on TradeClear nor any data scraping or data mining tools on TradeClear; and

you will not modify or copy:

  1. the layout of TradeClear; or
  2. any computer software and code contained in or forming part of TradeClear,

except as expressly permitted by these Terms or with our prior written consent.

Conditions applying to TradeClear

We intend to provide support for TradeClear during normal business hours (9am-5pm Canberra time) on days when our office in Canberra is open for business. You acknowledge that we do not make any undertaking as to service availability or performance.

You acknowledge that:

we reserve the right to modify TradeClear to add, remove or change functionality, capabilities, interfaces or any other aspect at any time (see further information about notice of changes in clause 20);

without limiting clause 9, we may, without further notice to you, use any information provided by you to TradeClear (including personal information and Relevant or Protected Information) to improve TradeClear;

we may restrict your access to functionality in TradeClear, depending on the methods you have used to verify your identity; and

any compromise of your TradeClear credentials does not change or reduce your obligations under these Terms.

You agree that:

we may examine and review your TradeClear account at any point in time, including where we reasonably believe that you are contravening any part of these Terms;

you will bear all costs associated with accessing and using TradeClear; and

you will notify us immediately if you are aware of any event which has compromised, or may have comprised, the security or integrity of TradeClear.

Fees

We do not charge a fee for the use of TradeClear. However, our standard fees and charges may apply to applications and other transactions made by you through TradeClear or our Systems.

Guidelines on the use of TradeClear

From time to time, we may issue or update protocols, guidelines or instructions for the use of TradeClear. These protocols, guidelines or instructions form part of these Terms and, subject to clause 3.2, are legally binding on you.

Privacy and data

By using TradeClear, you agree to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information and other data as set out in our Privacy Policy, opens in a new tab and the Privacy, opens in a new tab collection notice and otherwise for the purposes of facilitating your access to, and ability to perform export and import activities within, TradeClear.

You agree that we can use your Relevant or Protected Information and personal information with other products and processes connected to our functions.

You also agree that:

you will securely store, access, view and process all data obtained, accessed or processed in connection with using TradeClear, including all Relevant or Protected Information and personal information;

you will take all measures required to ensure the security of your TradeClear account and the information and devices you use to log into your TradeClear account; and

you will not store, access, view or process data obtained, accessed or processed in connection with using TradeClear, including all Relevant or Protected Information and personal information:

  1. in a location that may compromise your ability to discharge your obligations under these Terms, including in relation to privacy and security; or
  2. in a country other than Australia, unless you have notified us in writing and demonstrated to our satisfaction that you can safeguard and protect the data in accordance with these Terms.

If you are providing information about a person other than yourself, you agree that you have obtained all necessary consents to provide that information to us, and that the person understands that their personal information will be visible to all individuals with access to TradeClear for your Organisation.

If you do not provide your personal information, we may not be able to allow you to use TradeClear.

Confidentiality

You agree to protect our confidential information and to use it only for the purposes contemplated by these Terms (or agreed separately in writing by us) and not disclose it to persons outside your business or organisation without first obtaining our written consent.

We agree to protect your confidential information and to use it only for the purposes contemplated by these Terms (or agreed separately in writing with you or as permitted or required by law) and not disclose it to any third party without first obtaining your agreement. However, you agree we may disclose your confidential information:

to our internal management personnel, solely to enable effective management or auditing of activities related to these Terms or TradeClear;

to the responsible Commonwealth Minister;

in response to a request by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia;

to the Auditor General, the Australian Information Commissioner or the Commonwealth Ombudsman or as otherwise required by Commonwealth accountability policies; or

as permitted or required to be disclosed by law, including under court orders.

Security

You must not:

tamper with TradeClear;

attempt to bypass any security controls contained in or forming part of TradeClear;

transmit any Harmful Code while using, or introduce any Harmful Code into, TradeClear;

conduct any security testing (including penetration testing or vulnerability scanning) of TradeClear, or otherwise seek to identify or exploit any Vulnerability in the security of TradeClear;

make deliberate attempts to interfere with the functionality of TradeClear, overload TradeClear or attempt to disable a host of TradeClear, or

attempt to use TradeClear without invitation.

We may routinely log, monitor and analyse your use of TradeClear for any misuse and any attempted or actual security breaches.

You must:

maintain the confidentiality of all TradeClear account information including usernames, logins, passwords, and security questions and answers that you use to access any feature of TradeClear;

maintain the security of any information or devices you use to access TradeClear;

monitor, control, and take responsibility for all activities occurring under your accounts, usernames, logins, passwords, and security questions and answers, including any activities that may result from your negligence, carelessness, misconduct, or failure to use or maintain appropriate security measures; and

promptly report any suspicious or unauthorised conduct concerning your accounts, usernames, logins, passwords, or security questions and answers to us if you become aware of any such conduct.

You must establish, maintain and enforce security measures to ensure that all Relevant or Protected Information, personal information and our confidential information is protected against loss and from any unauthorised use, access, modification or disclosure.

Without limiting any of your obligations under these Terms, if you become aware of any Vulnerability, you must:

immediately notify us about the Vulnerability, and provide information about the Vulnerability, in accordance with our Vulnerability Disclosure Program, opens in a new tab;

not disclose the existence of, or any details about, the Vulnerability to any other person without our prior written consent; and

immediately delete all information which you may have accessed as a result of the Vulnerability, to which you otherwise would not have had access.

Vulnerabilities reported in accordance with the above will be handled in accordance with our Vulnerability Disclosure Program, opens in a new tab, and any personal information contained in reports will be handled in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy, opens in a new tab. Please see these documents for more information.

Links to other websites

TradeClear may contain links to sites on the internet owned and operated by third parties (including other Commonwealth entities) which are not under our control. In relation to the other sites on the internet, which are linked to TradeClear, we provide the links to other sites as a convenience to you, and the existence of a link to another site does not imply any endorsement by us of the content of the linked site.

You agree that:

you are responsible for compliance with any terms applicable to the use of third-party sites, whether arising from our provision of a link or your use of those sites;

we are not responsible for the accuracy or otherwise of the material contained on those linked sites; and

to the extent permitted by law, we accept no liability (whether in contract, tort including negligence, statute or otherwise) in respect of those linked sites.

Intellectual Property Rights

All Intellectual Property Rights comprised in or derived from TradeClear are owned by us or another third-party owner.

All logos, icons, brand names, business names, URLs, trademarks or service names that identify us are owned by and remain the property of the Commonwealth of Australia.

All other trademarks or service marks on TradeClear are the property of their respective owners.

By using TradeClear, you do not acquire ownership of any rights in TradeClear or the content that is accessed through TradeClear.

You must not make any unauthorised use of any material appearing on TradeClear (and must not breach the Intellectual Property Rights in respect of that material). If you do so, you may become liable for a breach of the Intellectual Property Rights of the Commonwealth or a third party.

Disclaimer

While we will use our best efforts to ensure TradeClear will work, TradeClear is provided on an “as is, as available” basis. In particular, we do not warrant, guarantee or make any representation that:

TradeClear, Our Systems or the servers that make the site available on the internet, are free of Harmful Code;

TradeClear will operate uninterrupted or is error-free; or

errors and defects in TradeClear will be corrected.

You acknowledge and agree that we make no representation and give no warranty that TradeClear will operate in accordance with any published documentation, be fit for any particular purpose, be uninterrupted, timely or error-free.

In particular, and without limiting clauses 14.1 and 14.2 above, you acknowledge that TradeClear is currently in a beta phase. As a result, it may not be available, operate as intended. We intend to make available other avenues for export approvals, which you may use if TradeClear is not complete or functioning properly. For more information, visit our Disclaimer, opens in a new tab.

You should promptly notify us if you discover or suspect any error or malfunction in TradeClear. In such an event, you agree to promptly provide to us information and details regarding any error or malfunction of TradeClear to the extent reasonably necessary to identify, confirm, investigate and rectify any such errors or difficulties (including, when relevant, any details of your operating environment or that of your business or organisation).

Liability and indemnity

You irrevocably release us from and agree that we will not be liable to you or your business or organisation (whether in contract, tort, statute or otherwise) for any loss or damage (including special, indirect, consequential, or exemplary damages) that you or your business or organisation suffer or incur as a result of, or in connection with:

your use of, or inability to use, TradeClear or our Systems (including your reliance on any material, links, opinions or recommendations made available through TradeClear or any missed opportunity);

any unauthorised or unlawful access to, or alterations of, your transmissions or data into or from TradeClear;

any activities resulting from the loss or misuse of your TradeClear account information, including your username and password;

any activity in TradeClear by your TradeClear account, or any use or any attempt by you, or by a person on your behalf, to use TradeClear without your or your businesses or organisation’s authorisation (including any fraudulent activity or use);

any errors or omissions in TradeClear or linked sites on the internet

any delays to, interruptions of, or cessation of, our Systems provided through TradeClear or linked sites;

TradeClear not being available or operative;

the provision of information by you to TradeClear, including in inviting or adding another user to join TradeClear;

you inviting or adding another user to join TradeClear, including:

  1. any unauthorised use or disclosure of that person’s personal information;
  2. the use of, or inability to use, TradeClear (whether lawful or otherwise) by that other user; or
  3. any actions taken by that person on behalf of a business or organisation that were not authorised by that business or organisation

any errors (including technical and administrative errors) arising in connection with your use of multiple TradeClear accounts; or

your breach of these Terms.

You accept the full cost of any necessary upgrade, repair, correction, and maintenance of any of your computer software or hardware, which may be necessary as a consequence of you accessing TradeClear.

You indemnify us and hold us harmless from and against (which means that you must meet our costs and expenses, including legal costs on a full indemnity basis, arising from) any loss, damage, cost, expense, claim, proceeding or liability of any kind that we may incur or that may be brought by any person against us, that arises directly or indirectly from:

your breach of these Terms;

your use of TradeClear and your activities in connection with TradeClear, including your use of our Systems; or

the matters referred to in clause 15.1.

Termination of use of TradeClear

You may terminate your TradeClear account with us at any time by giving us notice.

We may terminate your TradeClear account with us at any time by giving you notice.

We may immediately suspend your TradeClear account, or access to or use of TradeClear, if we suspect that you might have breached any of these Terms, until we determine that:

you have not breached these Terms, in which case we will reinstate your TradeClear account, access to or use of TradeClear; or

you have breached these Terms, in which case we may terminate your TradeClear account, access to or use of TradeClear with immediate effect by notifying you, unless the breach is remediated to our satisfaction.

If we suspend any person using TradeClear on behalf of a business or organisation, we may immediately suspend all other personnel of that business or organisation.

Your obligations under these Terms continue to apply during any period in which your TradeClear account is suspended or your access to or use of TradeClear is suspended.

After the termination or suspension of your TradeClear account, or your access to or use of TradeClear:

we are not required to provide you with access to any of the services made available through TradeClear,

you must not access (or permit access to) TradeClear, and

we will retain any information in connection with you TradeClear account and any transactions conducted using the account in accordance with applicable laws, including the Archives Act 1983 (Cth).

We reserve the right to report to the proper authorities any offence which might have occurred in connection with your use of TradeClear.

Agency

You agree that you are not an agent, employee or partner of us and you must not represent yourself as such. Nothing in these Terms will be deemed to create any agency, partnership or similar arrangement.

Waiver and Severability

Any failure or delay by us to exercise or enforce a right or remedy under these Terms does not operate as a waiver or prevent further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.

If any term or condition of these Terms is found to be void or unenforceable, the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions will not be affected.

Notices

We may give you notices in connection with these Terms by emailing your TradeClear account the notice.

You must access and read all notices and information provided by us in relation to your invitation to use TradeClear.

You may give us notices in connection with these Terms by sending an email to: tradeclearsupport@aff.gov.au.

Changes to these Terms and TradeClear

We may change these Terms at any time. We may also change the functionality of TradeClear at any time.

We will use reasonable endeavours to give you 3 months’ notice of non-critical and non-emergency changes.

For critical or emergency changes, we will endeavour to give you as much notice as possible or appropriate in the circumstances.

You acknowledge and agree that:

it may not be possible to give you advance notice of a change to TradeClear; and

failure to give you notice in accordance with clause 20.2 will not prevent us from making the change to TradeClear or updating the Terms to reflect that change.

We may require you to accept new Terms if you want to continue using TradeClear.

Compliance with laws

You agree that you will comply with all applicable laws including the Export Control Act 2020 (Cth), Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth), Imported Food Control Act 1992 (Cth) and associated regulations in connection with your use of TradeClear.

Records

You must keep and maintain complete and up-to-date records and other evidence of your compliance with these Terms for a period of 7 years from the date of creation and promptly provide those records to us if requested.

No Exemption

Except to the extent expressly set out in these Terms:

these Terms do not exempt you from the operation of any laws administered by us; and

nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude or restrict:

  1. any other right or remedy provided by law; or
  2. any obligations you have under any terms you have agreed to access any of Our Systems.

Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Australian Capital Territory, and you agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Australian Capital Territory.