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CUSTOMS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2001 (NO. 1) 2001 NO. 30
EXPLANATORY STATEMENTSTATUTORY RULES 2001 No. 30
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs
Customs Act 1901
Customs Amendment Regulations 2001 (No. 1)
Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed for giving effect to the Act.
The purpose of the amending Regulations is to amend the Customs Regulations 1926 (the Regulations) to:
• remove from the classes of goods that can be temporarily imported, traveller's samples and wedding presents and to insert a new class of specialised equipment and tools;
• amend the prescribed purposes for which goods may be temporarily imported;
• replace a prescribed form with an approved form ;
• prescribe new conditions that must be complied with before temporarily imported goods can be exported;
• return the manual refund application fee to $65.00;
• remove the restriction that drawback of duty will not be paid where the exported goods are relanded in Australia; and
• correct a reference to a provision that does not exist.
Subsection 162(1) of the Act provides that where a person imports goods included in a prescribed class or goods intended for a prescribed purpose and the person intends to export those goods, the Collector may grant to the importer permission to take delivery of those goods upon giving a security or an undertaking for the payment of duty, goods and services tax and/or luxury car tax payable on those goods.
Subparagraphs 124(1)(b)(i) and (ii) of the Regulations provide that for the purposes of section 162 of the Act the prescribed classes of goods include traveller's samples and wedding presents. Item 1 of the amending Regulations will remove these two classes of goods from the Regulations because they are covered by other provisions which allow either their temporary or permanent importation into Australia without the payment of duty. That same item will insert a new class of goods being certain types of specialised equipment or tools.
Paragraph 124(1)(c) provides that for the purposes of section 162 of the Act the prescribed purposes for which goods may be temporarily imported are:
• assembly or other industrial purposes approved by the Collector; and
• testing and evaluation.
Item 2 of the amending Regulations will remove the first purpose as it is ambiguous and the new class of goods set out in item 1 of the amending Regulations will cover the same goods.
Item 2 of the amending Regulations also makes it clear that the second purpose applies where the testing and evaluation is in respect of the imported goods themselves and not the testing and evaluation of other goods.
Subregulation 124(2) of the Regulations provides that an application for the permission of the Collector under section 162 of the Act must be made in accordance with Form 46 in the Regulations. Item 3 of the amending Regulations will amend subregulation 124(2) to require the application to be made in the approved form. Under section 4A of the Act approved forms are forms approved by the Chief Executive Officer. of Customs (CEO) and are disallowable instruments for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Item 12 of the amending Regulations will omit Form 46 from the Regulations. The replacement of Form 46 with an approved form will provide flexibility to amend the form when necessary.
Item 4 of the amending Regulations will replace the conditions that must be met prior to temporarily imported goods being exported. Those new conditions will be that the person exporting the goods must give the Collector a notice of their intention to export the goods and the goods must be brought into a prescribed place for export. Item 5 of the amending Regulations defines the term "prescribed place".
Subsection 163(1D) of the Act provides that the amount of refund application fee is, if the application is transmitted via a prescribed computer system (COMPILE) $45.00, or any other amount prescribed, and if the application is made in an approved form, $65.00 or any other amount prescribed. On 17 June 2000 the COMPILE computer system became unavailable for transmitting refund applications. At that time regulation 128AC was inserted into the Regulations to reduce the fee for an application made in an approved form to $45.00 because all applications had to be made in the approved form. The COMPILE computer system is again available for the transmission of refund applications. Item 6 of the amending Regulations will omit regulation 128AC thereby returning the fee for making a refund application in an approved form to $65.00.
Subregulations 133(1) and (2) of the Regulations provide that drawback of import duty is not payable on the exportation of goods if after exportation, the goods are relanded in Australia, as other controls now apply at re-importation. Items 8 and 9 of the amending Regulations remove that restriction. Items 7 and 10 of the amending Regulations contain consequential amendments.
Subparagraph 134(1)(f)(ii)of the Regulations refers to the form in paragraph 134(2)(d) of the Regulations. There is no paragraph 134(2)(d). Item 11 of the amending Regulations removes the incorrect reference from subparagraph 134(1)(f)(ii) but does not otherwise change the substance of the provision.
Details of the amending Regulations are set out in the Attachment.
The amending Regulations commence on gazettal.
ATTACHMENT
CUSTOMS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2001 (No. 1)
Regulation 1 - Name of regulations
Regulation 1 provides that the amending Regulations are named the "Customs Amendment Regulations 2001 (No. 1)".
Regulation 2 - Commencement
Regulation 2 provides that the amending Regulations are to commence on gazettal.
Regulation 3 - Amendment of Customs Regulations 1926
Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Customs Regulations 1926 (the Regulations).
SCHEDULE 1 - AMENDMENTS
Item 1 - Subparagraphs 124(1)(b)(i) and (ii)
Item 1 substitutes subparagraphs 124(1)(b)(i) and, (ii) of the Regulations.
Subsection 162(1) of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that where a person imports goods included in a prescribed class or goods intended for a prescribed purpose and the person intends to export those goods, the Collector may grant to the importer permission to take delivery of those goods upon giving a security or an undertaking for the payment of duty, goods and services tax and/or luxury car tax payable on those goods.
Subparagraphs 124(1)(b)(i) and (ii) of the Regulations provide that for the purposes of section 162 of the Act, the prescribed classes of goods include traveller's samples and wedding presents. Item 1 of the amending Regulations will remove those two classes of goods from the Regulations.
That same item will insert a new class of goods into the Regulations for the purposes of section 162 of the Act. Those goods are specialised equipment or tools to be used in exploration, production, manufacture, repair or modification, and included in a class of goods mentioned in paragraph 125(2)(a) of the Regulations. Paragraph 125(2)(a) of the Regulations relates to goods that are included in a class of goods to which an intergovernmental agreement applies.
Hence, if a person wants to import goods to which an intergovernmental agreement applies, those goods are specialised equipment or tools to be used in exploration, production, manufacture, repair or modification and the person intends to export those goods, they may apply to a Collector for a permission to import those goods on a temporary basis without the payment of duty and other taxes.
Item 2 - Paragraph 124(1)(c)
Item 2 replaces paragraph 124(1)(c) of the Regulations.
Paragraph 124(1)(c) of the Regulations currently provides that for the purposes of section 162 of the Act, there are two prescribed purposes for goods. If goods are intended to be used for those prescribed purposes the importer of the goods can apply for permission to import the goods on a temporary basis without the payment of duty and other taxes. Those two purposes are:
• assembly or other industrial purposes approved by the Collector; and
• testing or evaluation.
Item 2 omits the first purpose from the Regulations and replaces the second to make it clear that where goods are imported for the purpose of testing and evaluation it must be the imported goods that are being tested and evaluated.
Item 3 - Subregulation 124(2)
Item 3 amends subregulation 124(2) of the Regulations to provide that an approved form can be used to apply for permission to import goods on a temporary basis rather than the prescribed form. This will provide flexibility in the form that can be used.
Under section 4AA of the Act, approved forms are forms approved by the Chief Executive Officer of Customs and are disallowable instruments for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
Item 4 - Paragraph 124(3)
Item 4 replaces the conditions of export for temporarily imported goods in subregulation 124(3) of the Regulations. New subregulation 124(3) will provide that a person must not export temporarily imported goods unless the person gives a Collector a notice of their intention to export the goods and brings those goods to a prescribed place for export. A prescribed place is a place prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 30(1)(d) of the Act (see item 5 below).
Item 5 - After subregulation 124(4)
Item 5 inserts a new subregulation 124(5) into the Regulations to define the term 'prescribed place'. A prescribed place is a place prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 30(1)(d) of the Act. Regulation 23 of the Regulations provides that the following are prescribed places:
• wharves and airports appointed under section 15 of the Act
• places appointed under regulations made under the Act and the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905, to be a place where goods intended for export may be inspected and examined; and
• places for which a depot licence has been granted under section 77G of the Act.
Item 6 - Regulation 128AC
Item 6 omits regulation 128AC from the Regulations.
Subsection 163 (1 D) of the Act provides that the amount of refund application fee is:
• if the application is transmitted to Customs via a prescribed computer system - $45.00, or, if another amount is prescribed, that other amount; or
• if the application is made in an. approved form - $65.00, or, if another amount is prescribed, that other amount.
Regulation 128AB of the Regulations prescribes the COMPILE computer system for the purposes of subsection 163(1D) of the Act.
On 17 June 2000, the COMPILE computer system became unavailable for transmitting refund applications. Hence, all applications had to be made in the approved form which would have attracted the higher refund application fee. Therefore the fee for applications made in an approved form was reduced to $45.00 by prescribing in regulation 128AC of the Regulations that lower fee.
The COMPILE computer system is available again for the transmission of refund applications. Item 6 will repeal regulation 128AC of the Regulations hence returning the refund application fee for applications made in an approved form to $65.00.
Item 7 - Paragraph 133(1)(b)
Item 7 amends paragraph 133(1)(b) of the Regulations due to the omission of paragraph (c) from that same regulations (see item 8 below).
Item 8 - Paragraph 133(1)(c)
Item 8 omits paragraph 133(1)(c) from the Regulations.
Subregulation 133(1) of the Regulations currently provides that a drawback of import duty is not payable under regulation 129 of the Regulation on the exportation of goods if:
• the free on board (FOB) price of the goods at the time of exportation is not more than 25% of the customs value of the goods; or
• the import duty paid on the goods has been refunded; or
• after exportation, the goods are relanded in Australia.
Item 8 removes the third restriction from subregulation 133(1), as other controls now apply at reimportation.
Item 9 - Subregulation 133(2)
Item 9 omits from subregulation 133(2) the restriction that drawback of import duty will not be paid under regulation 131 of the Regulations on the exportation of specified goods if after exportation the specified goods are relanded in Australia.
Item 10 - Paragraph 134(1)(e)
Item 10 substitutes paragraph 134(1)(e) of the Regulations removing the requirement that the person making a drawback claim must state that the relevant goods have not been, and are not intended to be relanded in Australia. This is because relanding of the goods will no longer prohibit a person from claiming a drawback in respect of the goods (see items 8 and 9 above).
Item 11 - Subparagraph 134(1)(f)(ii)
item 11 substitutes subparagraph 13z[(1)(f)(ii) of the Regulations to remove an incorrect reference to paragraph 134(2)(d) of the Regulations but does not otherwise change the substance of the provision.
Item 12 - Schedule 1 , Form 46
Item 12 omits Form 46 from the Regulations. Form 46 will be replaced with an approved form (see item 3 above).