Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CUSTOMS (PROHIBITED IMPORTS) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2000 (NO. 1) 2000 NO. 32

STATUTORY RULES 2000 No. 32

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs

Customs Act 1901

Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Section 50 of the Customs Act 1901 ("the Act") provides in part that:

11(1)       The Governor-General may, by regulation, prohibit the importation of goods into Australia.

(2)       The power conferred by the last preceding subsection may be exercised - (c) by prohibiting the importation of goods unless specified conditions or restrictions are

complied with."

The Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 ("the Principal Regulations") control the importation of the goods specified by prohibiting importation absolutely, or making importation subject to the permission of a Minister or an authorised person.

The purpose of the Regulations is to place conditions on the importation of unmanufactured tobacco leaf., anti-personnel spray and chemicals used in the manufacture of anti-personnel spray.

The Regulations will limit access to unmanufactured tobacco leaf to legitimate manufactures of tobacco products or licensed dealers. Locally produced unmanufactured tobacco leaf is already controlled by legislation enforced by the Australian Taxation Office. Item 2401.10 of Schedule 3 of the Customs Tariff Act 1995 deals with tobacco, not stemmed/stripped. The proposal to make item 2401.10 a prohibited import is not to act as a barrier to the importation of tobacco leaf but to limit access to those licensed as manufacturers or registered dealers under provisions of the Excise Act 1901. Access to imported unmanufactured leaf will only be allowed with the Treasurer's approval and only to registered dealers and licensed manufactures (item 1.2 of schedule 1)

The regulations will further impose conditions on the importation of anti-personel sprays and chemicals for use in the manufacture of anti-personnel sprays by providing that: the goods must not be imported without the written consent of the Minister or the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police or a Commissioner of a Police Force of a State or Territory and unless they are for the use of the Australian Federal Police, a Police Force of a State or Territory or a correctional institution of a State or Territory (item 1.1 of schedule 1).

The conditional prohibitions on the importation of anti-personnel sprays and chemicals for use in the manufacture of anti-personnel sprays and tobacco leaf referred to in Customs Tariff Item 2401.10.00 are insertions in Schedule 3 of the Principal Regulations (item 1 of schedule 1).

The Regulations also make a number of technical amendments to correct terminology, schedule headings, references to Ministers and Departments (items 2 and 3 of schedule 1).

Details of the regulations are in the Attachment.

The regulations commenced on gazettal.

ATTACHMENT

Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 provides for the regulations to be named the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Regulation 2 - Commencement

Regulation 2 provides for Regulations to commence on gazettal.

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956

Regulation 3 provides for the Regulations to be amended as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 - Amendments commencing on gazettal.

Item 1 of Schedule 1 - updates Schedule 3 of the Regulations "goods the importation of which is prohibited unless specified conditions, restrictions or requirements are complied with', to include the newly prescribed items.

Items 2 and 3 of Schedule 1 - amendment of terminology, headings and references.

Item 2 of Schedule 1 amends Schedule 6, Part 3, heading.

Item 3 of Schedule 1 amends and updates references to Ministers, authorised persons and departments.