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CUSTOMS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 5) 2002 NO. 256

STATUTORY RULES 2002 No. 256

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs

Customs Act 1901

Customs Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 5)

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.

Subsection 163(1) of the Act provides in part that refunds, rebates and remissions of duty may be made in respect of goods generally or in respect of a class of goods and in such circumstances, and subject to such conditions and restrictions (if any), as are prescribed.

The purpose of the amending Regulations is to amend the Customs Regulations 1926 (the principal Regulations) to insert three new circumstances in which a refund, remission or rebate of Customs duty may be made.

Paragraph 126(1)(v) of the principal Regulations provides that a refund, remission or rebate of Customs duty may be made where duty is payable on fuel oil that is for use as a chemical reactant in the calcination part of the Bayer process for refining bauxite into alumina. That paragraph further provides that the refund, remission or rebate will only be made if the fuel is for use at a place that is either not supplied by natural gas or at which natural gas is not readily available.

However, there may be other circumstances, beyond the control of the user, in which fuel oil has to be used in the relevant process rather than natural gas. These include where the supply of natural gas is interrupted, for example, where a supply pipe is damaged. Further, there may be circumstances where natural gas is available but there is not enough to conduct the process or the facilities to supply the amount required do not exist.

The amending Regulations would insert new circumstances into paragraph 126(1)(v) of the principal Regulations so that refunds, remissions and rebates may be made where:

•       the supply of natural gas at the relevant place is temporarily interrupted by an event beyond the user's control;

•       not enough natural gas is available at the relevant place; or

•       not enough natural gas can be delivered to the relevant place (Item 2 refers).

Item 1 makes a technical amendment to subsubparagraph 126(1)(v)(ii)(B) of the principal Regulations as a result of the additional subparagraphs that would be inserted by item 2.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

The Regulations commenced on gazettal.

ATTACHMENT

CUSTOMS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (No. 5)

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 provides that these Regulations are the Customs Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 5).

Regulation 2 - Commencement

Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations 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 - Subsubparagraph 126(1)(v)(ii)(B)

Item 1 replaces the word "and" with "or" in subsubparagraph 126(1)(v)(ii)(B) of the principal Regulations as a consequence of the amendments that would be made by item 2.

Item 2 - After subsubparagraph 126(1)(v)(ii)(B)

Item 2 inserts three new circumstances into paragraph 126(1)(v) of the principal Regulations where refunds, remissions and rebates will be made in respect of fuel oil that is for use as a chemical reactant in the calcination part of the Bayer process for refining bauxite into alumina. These are where the oil is used because:

•       the supply of natural gas at the relevant place is temporarily interrupted by an event beyond the user's control;

•       not enough natural gas is available at the relevant place; or

•       not enough natural gas can be delivered to the relevant place.