EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 276

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Foreign Affairs

 

Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987

 

Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

 

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987 (the Act) gives effect to Australia's obligations under international agreements relating to the peaceful use of nuclear material and facilities, including the Safeguards Agreement between Australia and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pursuant to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and various bilateral safeguards agreements.

Section 74 of the Act provides, in part, that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

Section 3 of the Nuclear Safeguards (Producers of Uranium Ore Concentrates) Charge Act 1993 imposes a charge on producers of uranium ore concentrates (the charge) under certain circumstances. Section 69A of the Act specifies that the charge is due on 1 December each year and that the amount of the charge payable by a producer is $500,000 or an amount prescribed by the regulations, whichever is the lesser. The amount of the charge, expressed in cents per kilogram of uranium in the uranium ore concentrate produced, is set in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Regulations 1987 (the Principal Regulations).

The Regulations prescribe the amount of charge payable by a producer of uranium ore concentrates as the lesser of $500,000 (the maximum charge, set in the Act) or 9.4893 cents per kilogram of uranium in the uranium ore concentrates produced in the previous financial year.

There is a level of cost-recovery involved in setting the rate for calculating the charge. The rate is arrived by apportioning Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office general expenses to work categories related to uranium mining and export. The rate for calculating the charge due on
1 December 2010 increased from 6.0570 to 9.4893 cents per kilogram. The large increase in the rate is reflective of the large decrease in the uranium produced and the need to recover slightly higher total expenses.

The office of Regulation Review advised in 2006, that a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) is not mandatory, as the direct effect on business is minor in nature, therefore an exception applies. They also advised that subsequent amendments to the charge per kilogram to uranium producers will not require a RIS. Also, uranium producers were consulted, informing them of the increase to the uranium producers charge in 2010: they were provided with an opportunity to comment.

Details of the Regulations are attached.

The Regulations commenced on the day after they were registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

 

 

 

ATTACHMENT

 

DETAILS OF AMENDMENTS TO THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION (SAFEGUARDS) REGULATIONS 1987

 

 

Regulation 1 – Name of Regulations

Provides that these amendment regulations should be known as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1).

 

Regulation 2 – Commencement

Provides that the Regulations commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

 

Regulation 3 – Amendment of Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Regulations 1987

Provides that Schedule 1 amends the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Regulations 1987 (“the Principal Regulations”).

 

Schedule 1

 

 

Item [1] provides that within Paragraph 6(a) of the Principal Regulations “6.0570” be omitted and “9.4893” be inserted.