Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2007 (NO. 2) (SLI NO 291 OF 2007)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2007 No. 291

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs

Customs Administration Act 1985

Customs Administration Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 2)

 

Section 18 of the Customs Administration Act 1985 (the Act) provides that the Governor‑General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted to be prescribed by the Act or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

Section 16 of the Act relates to the prohibition on the disclosure of protected information by the Australian Customs Service (Customs). Subsection 16(2) of the Act prohibits the disclosure of protected information except in specified circumstances, including where the disclosure is authorised under section 16.

The purpose of the Regulations is to update the list of permitted entities to which disclosures of classes of protected information containing personal information may be authorised under section 16 of the Act by Customs. The amendments extend the permitted disclosure of protected information to Commonwealth, State and foreign government agencies in order to meet Customs’ current operational requirements.

Subsections 16(3A), (3B), (3C) and (3D) of the Act allow the Chief Executive Officer of Customs (the CEO) to authorise the disclosure of protected information to certain government agencies and international entities under specified circumstances. However, section 16 sets out further requirements to be fulfilled in relation to the authorised disclosure of protected information containing personal information. In this respect, ‘personal information’ has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act 1988.

To authorise the disclosure of a class of information containing personal information under subsections 16(3A), (3B), (3C) or (3D), subsection 16(10) of the Act requires that:

         the entity to which the disclosure is to be made must be specified in the regulations; and

         the class of information to be disclosed must be specified in the regulations as a class of information that may be disclosed to the relevant entity.

For the purposes of subsection 16(10) of the Act, Schedule 2 to the Customs Administration Regulations 2000 (the Principal Regulations) specifies the entities to which disclosure of a class of information containing personal information may be made, and the class or classes of information, as described and identified in Schedule 3, that may be disclosed to each specified entity. Schedule 3 sets out the descriptions of seven classes of information that may be disclosed. Schedule 3 is included at Attachment A.

An overview of the Regulations is at Attachment B.

No consultation was undertaken specifically in relation to the Regulations as they are of a minor or machinery nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.

Regulations 1 to 3 and Schedule 1 to the Regulations commence on the day after the Regulations are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. Schedule 2 to the Regulations commences on 1 October 2007, which is the day that Schedule 5 to the Wheat Marketing Amendment Act 2007 commences.

0717442A

 


ATTACHMENT A

CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS 2000

Schedule 3 Permitted classes of information

A Documents and information about surveillance activity or analysis

1. This class includes, for a person, information such as identification details, travel documents and details of suspected offending conduct.

2. It also includes documents and information derived from human and electronic surveillance methods, such as reports of observations, perceptions or detections, photographs, videotape recordings, radar, satellite or closed circuit television images or stills and sound recordings.

B Documents and information about intelligence activity or analysis

1. This class includes, for a person, details of convictions, identification details of known associates, past travel details, and details of agencies to whom the person is of interest.

2. It also includes reports, assessments, briefings and other intelligence publications.

C Documents and information about commercial transactions, including the importation or exportation of goods to and from Australia

D Documents and information about the movement of vessels and aircraft

E Documents and information about passenger and crew detentions and examinations

F Documents and information about the arrival and departure of persons to and from Australia

G Documents and information about detection, examination and seizure of goods including postal articles



ATTACHMENT B

DETAILS OF THE CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2007 (No. 2)

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations is the Customs Administration Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 2).

Regulation 2 - Commencement

This regulation provides that regulations 1 to 3 and Schedule 1 to the Regulations commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. Schedule 2 to the Regulations commences on 1 October 2007, which is the day that Schedule 5 to the Wheat Marketing Amendment Act 2007 commences. Schedule 5 to the Wheat Marketing Amendment Act 2007 replaces the ‘Wheat Export Authority’ with the ‘Export Wheat Commission’.

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Customs Administration Regulations 2000

This regulation provides that the Customs Administration Regulations 2000 (the Principal Regulations) are amended as set out in Schedules 1 and 2 to the Regulations.

SCHEDULE 1 - AMENDMENTS COMMENCING ON DAY AFTER REGISTRATION

Items [1] to [5]

Items [1] to [5] of Schedule 1 of the Regulations amend Schedule 2 to the Principal Regulations to:

         substitute the National Registration Authority for Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to reflect a change in the name of that organisation;

         insert the Trade Measures Review Officer as an entity to which disclosures of the class of information C containing personal information may be made;

         insert the Department of Corrective Services, New South Wales, as an entity to which disclosures of classes of information A, B, D, F and G containing personal information may be made;

         substitute the Department of Fair Trading with the Office of Fair Trading and the New South Wales Police Service with the New South Wales Police Force to reflect the correct name of those organisations;

         insert the New South Wales Policy Integrity Commission as an entity to which disclosures of classes of information A, B, C, D, E, F and G containing personal information may be made;

         insert the Office of Police Integrity Victoria as an entity to which disclosures of classes of information A, B, C, D, E, F and G containing personal information may be made;

         re-arrange the entities listed for New South Wales and Victoria in Part 2 of Schedule 2 so that the entities are listed in alphabetical order;

         insert the Maldives Customs Service as an entity to which disclosures of classes of information A, B, C, D, E, F and G containing personal information may be made;

         insert the (UK) Serious Organised Crime Agency as an entity to which disclosures of classes of information A, B, C, D, E, F and G containing personal information may be made;

         insert the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as an entity to which disclosures of classes of information A, B, C, D, E, F and G containing personal information may be made; and

         insert the United States Food and Drug Administration as an entity to which disclosures of classes of information A, B, C, D, E, F and G containing personal information may be made.

SCHEDULE 2 - AMENDMENTS COMMENCING ON 1 OCTOBER 2007

Item [1] Schedule 2, Part 1, item 140

Item [1] substitutes the ‘Wheat Export Authority’ with the ‘Export Wheat Commission’. The ‘Wheat Export Authority’ changes to the ‘Export Wheat Commission’ when Schedule 5 to the Wheat Marketing Amendment Act 2007 commences on 1 October 2007.

 

 


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