Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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AUSTRALIAN POSTAL CORPORATION AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2000 (NO. 1) 2000 NO. 76

STATUTORY RULES 2000 No. 76

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation

Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989

Australian Postal Corporation Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Section 102 of the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 (the APC Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the APC Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the APC Act.

The purpose of the Regulations is to insert new regulations 3A-3F into the Australian Postal Corporation Regulations 1996 (the APC Regulations). The Regulations will prescribe the information that must be recorded when a Customs officer removes a postal article from the normal course of carriage and the article is opened by another Customs officer. The Regulations will also prescribe the place or places at which those records must be kept, the 1 manner in which the record is to be kept and the uses that can be made of information contained in the record.

The Regulations will also make technical amendments to the APC Regulations as a consequence of the insertion of new regulations 3A-3F.

Schedule 1 of the Customs Legislation Amendment (Criminal Sanctions and Other Measures) Act 2000 (the Criminal Sanctions Act) amends the APC Act to allow Customs officers to remove articles that weigh 25 grams or more, from the normal course of carriage if the article is in the course of post between Australia and a place outside Australia and the Customs officer reasonably believes that the article consists of, or contains, drugs or other chemical compounds that are being carried in contravention of a law of the Commonwealth relating to their importation into, or exportation from Australia.

The Criminal Sanctions Act further amends the APC Act to provide that the Regulations may prescribe the procedures relating to the removal of articles from the normal course of carriage; the manner and place where a record of articles opened and examined is to be established and kept; and the uses that can be made of that record.

The Regulations will prescribe:

* the information to be recorded (regulations 3A, 3B and 3C);

* the place or places where the record must be established and maintained (regulation 3D);

* the manner in which the record is to be kept (regulation 3E); and

* the uses that can be made of the information contained in the record (regulation 3F).

Details of the proposed Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

The Regulations will commence on the date of commencement of item 1 of Schedule 1 to Criminal Sanctions Act. Schedule 1 to the Criminal Sanctions Act commences by proclamation on 26 May 2000.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

ATTACHMENT

Australian Postal Corporation Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 provides that the proposed Regulations are named the "Australian Postal Corporation Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)".

Regulation 2 - Commencement

Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations are to commence on the commencement of item 3 of Schedule 1 to the Customs Legislation Amendment (Criminal Sanctions and Other Measures) Act 2000.

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Australian Postal Corporation Regulations 1996

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Australian Postal Corporation Regulations 1996 (the APC Regulations).

Schedule 1 Amendments

Item 1 - Part 2, heading

Item 1 replaces the heading to Part 2 of the APC Regulations.

This is a consequential amendment as a result of the Regulations inserting into Part 2 of the APC Regulations regulations 3A-3F, which relate to the records that must be kept when a Customs officer removes an article from the normal course of carriage and opens it.

Item 2 - Part 2, after the heading

Item 2 inserts a new division into Part 2 of the APC Regulations.

Division 1 of Part 2 of the APC Regulations relates to the records that must be kept if articles are removed from the normal course of carriage and opened by Customs officers.

New regulation 3A provides that the following particulars of an article removed and opened must be recorded:

* the name of the addressee on the article;

* if the name of the sender appears on the article - the name of the sender;

* the class of the article;

* its county of origin.

New regulation 3B provides that the following particulars of the nature of the examination of the article and its contents must be recorded:

*       details of any technology or tools used;

*       details of the referral of the article to an agency other than the Australian Customs Service (if any);

*       details of any pilferage or damage to the article or its contents (if any).

New regulation 3C provides that the record must set out, for an article opened for examination by a Customs officer, whether the article and its contents were, following examination, dealt with according to law or returned to the normal course of carriage.

New regulation 3D provides that the records must be established and maintained at:

* each International Mail Centre; and

* Qantas Mail Handling Unit, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.

The Chief Executive Officer of Customs approves places to be International Mail Centres under section 77F of the Customs Act 1901.

New regulation 3E provides that the records must be kept electronically on a computer system or manually.

New regulation 3F provides that the record can be used for the administration or enforcement of a law of customs or excise or any other Commonwealth law relating to the import or export of goods or anything else into or out of Australia or the collection of statistical data. A law will be a law of customs or excise if it falls within the definition in section 3 of the Customs Administration Act 1985.

Item 3 - After regulation 3F

Item 3 inserts Division 2 into Part 2 of the APC Regulations. Division 2 contains the regulations that were already contained in Part 2.

Item 4 - Regulation 4, heading

Item 4 replaces the heading to regulation 4 of the APC Regulations.

Item 5 - Regulation 4

Item 5 replaces the words "This Part" with 'This Division" in regulation 4 of APC Regulations.

Item 6 - Subregulation 5(1)

Item 6 replaces the word "Part" with "Division" in subregulation 5(1) of the APC Regulations.

Item 7 - Subregulation 5(4)

Item 7 replaces the word "Part" with "Division" in subregulation 5(4) of the APC Regulations.

The amendments in items 4-7 are consequential amendment required as a result of the introduction of divisions into Part 2 of the APC Regulations.