The past couple of years have seen major changes happen with travelling overseas:-

• Terrorism and its security implications at airports
• Fuel costs and its effect on baggage limits
• In Australia, the GST and its effect on Customs

The trend over the last 10 years has seen Australian Exhibitors participating in increasing numbers in New Zealand Nationals and FIAP shows.  The lack of a large number of FIP shows has seen acceptance numbers steady.

At recent APF meetings (Sept/Dec 05); after much discussion the APF Levy has been revised for both New Zealand Nationals and for Overseas exhibitions.  Below is the new scale of charges.  The charge is now on a weight basis.  They commence from Espana 2006 and Kiwipex 2006.

Furthermore for Accord Exhibitions (see description below) and Invited Exhibits there will be a levy of $20.00 per exhibit.  This is to offset Customs Fees. [From 1/1/2006]

As Australia only has 1 National per year, the ability to enter New Zealand Nationals has become more popular and the number of entries are increasing.  Also in Australia we require our judges to be accredited with an exhibit in each of their judging disciplines every 4 years.  New Zealand Nationals is a great avenue for Australian judges to become re-accredited.

At the recent Auckland exhibition the Commissioner Darryl Fuller was responsible for 177 frames and needed 3 Assistant Commissioners to assist him to take the exhibits to NZ.  The weight of exhibits they carried was in excess of 100kg before they calculated any clothing/personal belongings.  [As airlines are becoming very strict on the 20kg limit, this doesn’t allow the Commissioner/Assistants much leeway.]

How can the exhibitor help ?

Many Aussies go to the NZ shows, and if you are exhibiting - pickup your catalogue;  take home your prize.  If you live in the same state as another exhibitor not attending, offer to take his catalogue too.  Every little bit helps.

Each year the FIAP authorises an Asian Exhibition.  In 2005 the Exhibition was in Taipei and in 2006 the exhibition will be in Dubai.  Entry is via a Commissioner and the minimum entry level is a Vermeil National medal. Generally all entries submitted are accepted to these shows. New Australian exhibitors who have gained a National Vermeil are encouraged to enter a FIAP exhibition prior to a full FIP.  Remember it is wise to have your exhibit insured as it is the exhibitor’s responsibility.

Full FIP exhibitions such as Washington 2006 are very large events.  Washington has 3800 frames of exhibits planned and over 7000 frames were applied for [An Australian National has between 400 - 700 frames].  Thus there is a need for a large scaling back of each country’s accepted exhibits. In Australia’s case we had 177 frames applied for and received confirmation for 100 frames.

There are many reasons that your entry may not be accepted.

a.  Too many exhibits in a Class. When an exhibition appoints a jury, consideration is taken to the qualifications of each judge and teams are selected and each team can judge only a     certain number of exhibits. For example an exhibition may decide that each Postal History team will have 300 frames to judge.  The entry form has Postal History in 3 sections, British Commonwealth (600 frames applied for), Asia (450 frames applied for) and Rest of the World (450 frames applied for). From this example only 50% of the British Commonwealth will be accepted whereas in the other two sections 75% will be.

b.  Commissioners come from all over the world [Washington will have over 60 National Commissioners] and each country has a quota on number of frames that they need to submit and be accepted. Therefore the exhibition needs to allocate with this requirement in mind.

c.  The FIP GREVs also specify that 25% of exhibits should be first time exhibits. This can have an impact on a country’s acceptances. Australia has a large exhibitor base, whereas many countries do not.

Commissioner’s Responsibilities at FIAP and FIP Exhibitions.

a.  The Commissioner will book the exhibits into the Bin Room.

b.  The Commissioner will check that all exhibits are up correctly. This check will be completed on a daily basis. He will report any problems to the Bin Room for correction.

c.  There is normally a daily Commissioners’ meeting which he will attend.

d.  All FIAP and FIP Exhibitions have an Expert Committee that will inspect a certain number of exhibit frames for possible forgeries. It is the responsibility of the Commissioner to attend the frame at the time the sheet is removed. [If the page is found to be ok, nothing further will happen. If however an item is found to require a certificate or not to be entered again, a report sheet will be handed to the Commissioner. There will be a copy for the Exhibitor and one for the National Federation].

e.  Where possible the Commissioner will notify the exhibitor of hid/her result by email or mail. At times the Commissioner will email all the Australian results to a person in Australia who he has requested to notify exhibitors on his behalf.

f.   At the conclusion of the Exhibition the Commissioner will check all entries on return.

The APF has a number of accords with overseas country Federations.

• Canada
• USA
• UK
• South Africa

Each alternate year the APF nominates Australian Judges to attend a National exhibition in each of the above countries [The airfare is split 50/50 between the judge and and the APF, with the Accord country providing accommodation]. Alternate years Australian Nationals has a judge from the above countries [Airfare is Accord country’s responsibility and Accommodation is at the Australian Nationals Committee responsibility].

Generally but not always the Judge will take 3-5 exhibits with him from Australia to participate. These accords assist our judges in observing what is happening overseas. When on an Australian National Jury the overseas judge/s have much to offer Australian Judges and Exhibitions.  The flow-on also helps the Exhibitor who has the opportunity to have a critique from an overseas judge. [For example at Swan River Stampshow 2004, where we had 6 judges from USA, UK and Canada, the exhibitors in attendance had a great opportunity to speak to these international accredited judges].

The APF appoints Commissioners to all overseas Exhibitions.  The APF has a pool of Commissioners and Apprentice Commissioners who have completed a Commissioner’s Course. A Refresher Course will be held at Adelaide Stampex 2006 for all current National Commissioners.

Once appointed it is the duty of the Commissioner to actively seek entries. Entries can only be submitted through the Commissioner. This includes New Zealand Nationals. The Commissioner will forward all entry forms plus front pages to the Exhibition Committee by the required date.

a.  Acceptance of Entries

Organising committees instruct Commissioners on the due date and means of payment of all the frame fees.  To meet the Organising Committee’s deadlines, the Commissioner requests exhibitors to make payment to him for forwarding on/by a particular date. Late payment can at worst mean that an exhibit has not been accepted or a second draft payment requiring additional costs.

b.  Cultural Heritage

Under the Cultural Heritage act it is the requirement of the APF, through its Commissioner to liaise with the department responsible for Cultural Heritage. Basically, if any exhibit has achieved a large gold medal or is valued at over $150,000 then you need to get a temporary export approval from the Cultural Heritage area of the Department of Environment and Heritage.

• Find out as soon as possible from exhibitors whether any of their exhibits meet the above requirements. 
• Find out if any of these exhibits have had to do this before, and if so see if you can get the number from the exhibitor.  This will make it easier to get a new export approval.
• Fill in a cultural heritage form for each exhibit over $150,000 or which has received a large gold medal. (Attachment C)
• Send in the signed forms and attach a list of all the other exhibits that will be taken to the exhibition, and stating that these exhibits are being taken but do not come under the Moveable Cultural Heritage Act.
• This needs to be done early to get approval as it will take 8-12 weeks.

c.  Customs and GST

Under Australian Law all exhibits both leaving or coming into Australia needed to be declared for Customs purposes.  The Commissioner through the APF will be in contact with a Customs Broker who will provide all documentation for the exhibits going with the Commissioner and his Assistants. Thus valuations and Inventory sheets need to be with the Commissioner at least 4-6 weeks prior to the departure of the Commissioner to the Exhibition.

d.  Late delivery of Information/Exhibits.

Deadlines are set for a reason and where possible should be adhered to.  While it would be nice to add that last minute purchase to an exhibit, if it is done after the Commissioner has received a copy of the Inventory form it can cause one of the following problems:

i.   The exhibit could be “bonded” by Customs as they can and do random inventory checks of the exhibits. This can have worse effect on the return journey with Customs.

ii   At the exhibition the Bin Room will have difficulty with the Inventory sheet and the actual pages. [Remember the Commissioner may have 100 frames, which means 1600 sheets need to be checked - a long process]

iii  A through check of each exhibit is undertaken by the Commissioner, which is a necessary safeguard for both the Exhibitor and the Commissioner. The detection of anomalies at the eleventh hour can create significant problems and place an unacceptable stress on the Commissioner.

e.  Grossly Overweight Exhibits

This can be a major problem for Commissioners.  The airlines allow 20kg per person. It used to be the case where they would allow on application extra allowances. This is now in the past. Weight means more fuel, thus more cost to the airline. As stated above a new scale of charges will be in operation for 2006 and onwards. Please take note of the allowances.

f.  Exhibitors by-passing the Commissioner by making Direct Contact with the Organising Committee

Such communications do not achieve anything as the Organisers simply re-direct the correspondence to the Commissioner for his attention.  The sole communication channel with the Organising Committee is through the Commissioner.

6.  Returning of Exhibits

If Exhibitors are unable to personally collect their exhibits from the Commissioner on his/her return, they must ensure precise instructions are provided. [With pre-payment if cost is involved].

I cannot over-emphasize the importance that all information must be double-checked [especially inventory sheets] before signing and despatching. Some Commissioners have found themselves needlessly delayed by zealous Customs or Bin Room personnel, when anomalies are found on inventory forms or other documentation.

It is also not uncommon for Commissioners to find inaccurate information on entry forms; particularly concerning (a) previous awards and (b) dimensions of exhibit sheets.

Exhibitors who entrust their valuable philatelic properties to a Commissioner for carrying to an overseas exhibition must have confidence in that person’s ability to perform the important task responsibly and conscientiously.  Not only must the Commissioner be conversant with the FIP GREV’s, SREV’s, the particular exhibition regulations [IREX], and understand the various Customs requirements, he must be able to communicate relevant matters to “his” exhibitors.

Exhibitors, in turn, have a responsibility to carefully follow the Commissioner’s instructions. Hiccups occasionally occur, and whilst to err is human, I believe that with a wider understanding, care, good-will and common sense, almost all of the aforementioned concerns can be avoided.