EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

SELECT LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENT 2005 No. 49

 

Issued by the Authority of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister

for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

 

Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 1999

 

Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 1)

 

 

Section 8 of the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 1999 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, prescribing matters required or permitted by those Acts to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to each Act.

 

The Act provides for a range of levies on primary industry products. In addition, Schedule 27 to the Act provides that regulations may impose levies on primary industry products, or provide for exemptions from a levy. The original macropod levy was introduced by regulation and commenced on 1 January 2004. Currently all species of macropod are subject to the macropod levy.

 

The purpose of the regulations is to allow for the harvesting of two particular species of wallaby to be exempted from the liability to pay the macropod levy. Concerns were raised by macropod processors about a perceived inequity of the levy between small Tasmanian wallabies and larger mainland macropods. The concerns were centred on the fact that the macropod levy is paid at a rate of cents per carcase, which translated to processors of small wallabies paying significantly more levy per kilogram of meat than processors of other larger species of macropod. The former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Judith Troeth, asked the peak industry body for the macropod industry, the Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia (KIAA), to examine the impact of the macropod excise levy on wallabies with a low meat recovery rate. As a result, the KIAA indicated that two species of wallaby should be exempted from the macropod excise levy. The two species named by the KIAA to be exempted are Thylogale billardierii, commonly known as the Tasmanian rufus wallaby; and Macropus rufogrieus, commonly known as the Tasmanian bennetts wallaby. The effect of exempting these two species from the macropod levy will be that those processors in the macropod industry that process the two species of macropods with a significantly lower meat recovery rate will not be inequitably burdened by the macropod levy.

 

There are no conditions under the Levies Act that need to be met before the power to make these regulations may be exercised. Subclause 14(2) of Schedule 27 to the Act provides that if there is a single body that is a designated body in relation to a particular product, then, before the Governor-General makes a regulation in relation to the product, the Minister must take into consideration any relevant recommendation made to the Minister by the body.

 

Consultation requirements in clause 14 of Schedule 27 of the Levies Act do not apply in the present case as the Minister has not declared any specified body to be the designated body in relation to the macropod industry. However, the KIAA has been consulted process with regard to this matter, to ensure that the outcome meets industry expectations. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry also discussed the impact of the current levy arrangements with Tasmanian representatives of the macropod industry.

 

Details of the regulations are set out in the Attachment.

 

The Office of Regulation Review (ORR) was consulted in the preparation of the regulations and advised that a Regulation Impact Statement is not required. ORR ID 7066 confirms that the Governments regulatory best practice requirements have been met.

 

The regulations would be a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

 

The regulations commence on 1 April 2005.

ATTACHMENT

 

DETAILS OF THE PRIMARY INDUSTRIES (EXCISE) LEVIES AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2005 (No. 1)

 

Details of the regulations are as follows:

 

Regulation 1 provides that the regulations are the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 1).

 

Regulation 2 provides that the regulations commence on 1 April 2005.

 

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Regulations 1999 (the Principal Regulations).

 

Schedule 1 identifies the amendments to be made.

 

Item [1] amends subclause 1.2 (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 27 to the Principal Regulations to provide that levy is not to be imposed in two situations, namely, own use of the macropod by the producer (as currently provided); or harvesting of certain species of macropod. This amendment allows subclause 1.2 (3) to be inserted after subclause 1.2 (2).

 

Item [2] removes Note 1, regarding the destination of the levy, and Note 2, regarding other levy on kangaroos, after subclause 1.2 (2). These notes are re-inserted after subclause 1.2 (3) as part of Item [3].

 

Item [3] inserts a new subclause 1.2 (3) after existing subclause 1.2 (2). Subclause 1.2 (3) contains new text outlining that levy is not imposed on the processing, at a processing establishment, of two species of macropod, Thylogale billardierii, commonly known as the Tasmanian rufus wallaby; and Macropus rufogrieus, commonly known as the Tasmanian bennetts wallaby, listed in paragraphs 1.2 (3) (a) and (b) respectively. This item also re-inserts Note 1 and Note 2 after subclause 1.2 (3).