Tariff classification errors nearly quadrupled in FY 2024–25 What ABF data reveals — and how BorderWise can help

In its December 2025 Goods Compliance Update, the Australian Border Force (ABF) reported that 32% of import declarations assessed last financial year contained an error. Tariff classification was the biggest contributor at 15.8%. The raw numbers are even more staggering. Classification errors jumped from 117 in FY 2023–24 to 444 in FY 2024–25 – nearly four times as many in a single year.

Over the same period, importers self-reported AUD $198.9 million in understatements through the Voluntary
Disclosure Initiative. That number suggests these errors are often caught and corrected after the fact.

An industry under pressure

Under Australia’s self-assessment model, importers and forwarders supporting them are responsible for the accuracy of each commodity line in a shipment. In practice, ambiguous supplier information and commercial pressure to clear shipments means classification errors can and do slip through. 

Tariff schedules are also regularly updated in response to World Customs Organization (WCO) changes, and new free trade agreement rules and ABF rulings. Keeping abreast of these changes while managing large volumes isn’t easy.

Reducing classification errors with BorderWise

BorderWise is a tariff classification and trade compliance platform used by customs brokers and freight forwarders
in Australia and globally. Its AI-powered HS Classification Assistant narrows down goods through clarifying questions, then identifies the most relevant and high-accuracy HS tariff code recommendations for the user to confirm. 

Supporting features then link directly to duty rates, available concessions, FTA opportunities and compliance risks for each classification. BorderWise also features an integrated legal library covering WCO publications, country legislation, global FTAs and classification rulings. For ambiguous goods that could fall under more than one heading or where an overseas ruling has implications for an Australian declaration, that knowledge can be invaluable. A daily updates dashboard is also available keeping users current on Australian customs law, ABF rulings, and international trade developments as they occur. 

Declaration errors beyond tariffs

Tariff classification isn’t the only challenge flagged in the ABF update. Audits also identified widespread misapplication of anti-dumping exemption codes, namely the GOODS exemption that brokers applied to ineligible imports. This is a separate compliance obligation to tariff classification, but it is part of the same import declaration. A broker can classify correctly and still attract a penalty through mishandling exemptions. Alongside tariff classification tools, BorderWise includes a searchable dumping commodities database, enabling brokers to check anti-dumping codes during classification rather than as a separate step.

Time for change

An almost fourfold annual increase in classification errors is a sign that the work has outgrown the existing processes managing it. 

BorderWise is built for this new environment – simplifying tariff classification, automating compliance checks, and giving customs professionals the time and information to get declarations right before lodgement, not after.