The ABA offers members a freight consolidation scheme for importing books from the US and UK via air
and sea, and Europe by sea. The scheme is operated through The Global Book Network, administered by Intramar Pty Ltd.
Members receive substantial benefits from using consolidated volumes to gain the same freight buying
power as larger volume importers.
GST and imports - how the scheme works:
Since the introduction of the GST, Intramar has been handling the payment of GST on books imported under
the ABA's freight consolidation scheme. Payments are made on behalf of importing booksellers via the
ATO's Deferred Payment Scheme, which means that booksellers do not need to pay GST themselves when
importing the goods. Under the Global Book Network scheme booksellers purchasing freight on a 'per kilo'
basis door-to-door will also benefit from not seeing any GST on their invoices from Intramar. This offers
a substantial cash flow benefit to members who use the scheme.
