EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 170

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Home Affairs

Customs Act 1901

Customs Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 2)

 

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, or as may be necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for giving effect to the Act.

Pleasure craft have been required to report their impending arrival in Australia within the same timeframe as commercial ships. However due to technical limitations, pleasure craft have had difficulty in complying with some of the timeframes. New subsection 64(5A) of the Act, which was inserted into the Act by the Customs Amendment (Enhanced Border Controls and Other Measures) Act 2009, provides for a separate regime for pleasure craft to report their impending arrival in Australia. New subsection 64(5A) commenced on 19 June 2009.

The purpose of the amending Regulations is to prescribe, for the purposes of new subsection 64(5A) of the Act, the timeframes for providing the impending arrival report for pleasure craft to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.

The amending Regulations amend regulation 26 of the Customs Regulations 1926 (the Principal Regulations) by inserting a reference to new subparagraph 64(5A)(b)(i) of the Act. The effect of this amendment is that a pleasure craft on a journey to Australia which is greater than 96 hours in duration is required to report its impending arrival no later than 96 hours before its estimated time of arrival in Australia.

The amending Regulations amend regulation 27 of the Principal Regulations by inserting a reference to new subparagraph 64(5A)(b)(ii) of the Act. The effect of this amendment is that a pleasure craft on a journey to Australia which is less than 96 hours, 72 hours, 48 hours or 24 hours in duration is required to report its impending arrival, respectively, no later than 72 hours, 48 hours, 24 hours or 12 hours before its estimated time of arrival in Australia.

The amending Regulations also insert a new regulation 27A into the Principal Regulations to prescribe, for the purposes of new paragraph 64(5A)(a) of the Act, a period of 90 days. This means that the report of the impending arrival of a pleasure craft must be made not earlier than 90 days before the time stated in the report to be the estimated time of arrival, instead of 10 days as is specified in subsection 64(5) of the Act.

The considerable periods which pleasure craft may be at sea before arriving in Australia and the limited facilities onboard to report their impending arrival has meant that masters and owners of pleasure craft have often had difficulty complying with the existing reporting timeframes. Extending the reporting period for pleasure craft from 10 days to up to 90 days provides masters and owners of pleasure craft greater flexibility as to when they may report their impending arrival.

Industry and the general public have been consulted regarding the new timeframes that a pleasure craft can report its impending arrival.

The amending Regulations commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

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