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2010 - 2011 - 2012
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT (2012 MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2012
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Home Affairs
the Honourable Jason Clare MP)
CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT (2012 MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2012
OUTLINE
The purpose of the Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012 (the Bill) is
to amend the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (the Customs Tariff) to:
1. Incorporate alterations that were contained in Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2012,
tabled in the House of Representatives on 16 February 2012, as follows:
· re-insertion of subheading 5308.10.00 applicable to coir yarn; and
· listing of Serbia as a Developing Country for the purposes of the Australian
System of Tariff Preferences; and
2. To correct a number of technical errors in the Customs Tariff that have occurred as a
result of drafting and clerical mistakes.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The inclusion of Serbia on the list of Developing Countries will have no fiscal impact on the
Budget in 2011-12 and negligible impact from 2012-13 to 2014-15.
The remaining measures in the Bill have no financial impact.
Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012
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STATEMENT OF COMPATABILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
(Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011)
CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT (2012 MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2012
This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in the definition of human rights in section 3 of the Human
Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Bill
The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (the Customs Tariff) to:
· re-insert subheading 5308.10.00 applicable to coir yarn;
· list Serbia as a Developing Country for the purposes of the Australian System
of Tariff Preferences; and
· correct a number of technical errors in the Customs Tariff.
Re-insertion of subheading 5308.10.00
Subheading 5308.10.00 applies to coir yarn, commonly used in the manufacture of mats and
rope. This subheading was incorrectly omitted in the Customs Tariff Amendment (2012
Harmonized System Changes) Act 2011. When enacted, the Customs Tariff Amendment
(2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012 will re-insert this subheading, effective on 1 January 2012.
Listing of Serbia as a Developing Country
Schedule 1 of the Customs Tariff lists those countries and places that are accorded
preferential rates of duty under the Australian System of Tariff Preferences (ASTP). The
listing of Serbia as a Developing Country will accord it a reduction in customs duty on a
defined range of goods imported into Australia and is consistent with Australia's approach to
other states which were formerly part of Yugoslavia and listed as developing countries.
Correction of technical errors
When enacted, the Bill will also correct minor technical errors in the Customs Tariff.
Human Rights implications
This legislative instrument does not engage, impact on, or limit in any way, the human rights
and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in the definition
of human rights at section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Conclusion
This legislative instrument does not raise any human rights issues.
Minister for Home Affairs
Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012
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CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT (2012 MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2012
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short Title
1. This clause provides for the Bill, when enacted, to be cited as the Customs Tariff
Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Act 2012.
Clause 2 - Commencement
2. Subclause (1) provides that each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table in
that subclause commences, or is taken to have commenced, on the day or at the time
specified in column 2 of the table. This subclause also provides that any other statements in
column 2 of the table has effect according to its terms.
3. Item 1 of the table in this clause provides that sections 1 to 3 and anything in the Act not
covered elsewhere in the table will commence on the day on which the Act receives the
Royal Assent.
4. Item 2 of the table provides that items 1 and 2 of the Bill commence on 1 March 2012. See
paragraphs 16 and 20 below for an explanation of this commencement date.
5. Item 3 of the table provides that items 3 to 6 of the Bill commence on the day after the Act
receives the Royal Assent.
6. Item 4 of the table provides that items 7 and 8 of the Bill commence on 1 January 2012.
See paragraphs 16 and 33 below for an explanation of this commencement date.
7. Item 5 of the table provides that item 9 of the Bill commences on the day after the Act
receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3 - Schedule(s)
8. This clause is the formal enabling provision for the Schedule to the Bill and provides that
each Act specified in a Schedule is amended or repealed in accordance with the applicable
items in the Schedule. In the Bill, the Customs Tariff Act 1995 is being amended.
9. Clause 3 also provides that any other items of the Schedule have effect according to their
terms. This is a standard enabling clause for transitional, savings and application items in
amending legislation.
Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012
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CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT (2012 MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2012
Introductory comments
10. The Customs Tariff Proposal mechanism is used for effecting alterations to the Customs
Tariff, particularly when such alterations are required to have effect in a short time frame that
cannot be achieved through a Customs Tariff Amendment Bill. Customs Tariff Proposals
are used most commonly for introducing new items, for changing rates of duty or for
restructuring items in the Schedules to the Customs Tariff.
11. When the Parliament is sitting, Customs Tariff Proposals are tabled in the House of
Representatives, specifying alterations to the Customs Tariff.
12. When the Parliament is not sitting for a period exceeding 7 days, section 273EA of the
Customs Act 1901 provides that the Minister may publish a notice in the Commonwealth
Gazette, specifying alterations to the Customs Tariff. Section 273EA requires that, when
such a notice is published in the Gazette, a Customs Tariff Proposal must be tabled in the
House of Representatives, within seven sitting days.
13. Following the introduction of a Customs Tariff Proposal in the House of Representatives, the
alterations contained in the Proposal are incorporated in a Customs Tariff Amendment Bill
that is introduced into and debated by the Parliament.
14. The Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012 amends the Customs
Tariff to incorporate two alterations that were contained in Customs Tariff
Proposal (No. 1) 2012, tabled in the House of Representatives on 16 February 2012, as
follows:
· listing of Serbia as a Developing Country for the purposes of the Australian
System of Tariff Preferences.
· re-insertion of subheading 5308.10.00 applicable to coir yarn; and
15. Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2012 also contained an alteration to the Customs Tariff to
extend the SPARTECA - TCF Scheme to December 2014. The SPARTECA - TCF Scheme
provides for the duty-free entry of certain textiles, clothing and footwear from Forum Island
Countries covered by the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation
Agreement and is administered through present item 68 in Schedule 4 (concessional
provisions) of the Customs Tariff. As the extension of the Scheme requires an amendment
to an item in Schedule 4, this alteration has been incorporated in the Customs Tariff
Amendment (Schedule 4) Bill 2012, tabled in the House of Representatives
on 21 March 2012. This Bill would incorporate the above alteration in the Customs Tariff.
16. When a Customs Tariff Proposal is incorporated in a Customs Tariff Amendment Bill, the
commencement provisions of the Bill reflect those of the Proposal. As there is a time lag
between the tabling of a Proposal in the House of Representatives and the passage of a Bill
incorporating the Proposal through the Parliament, the commencement provisions of the Bill
are necessarily retrospective.
Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012
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Schedule 1 - Amendments
Customs Tariff Act 1995
Items 1 and 2 - Listing of Serbia as a Developing Country
Item 1 - Schedule 1 (Division 1 of Part 4, after table item relating to Saudi Arabia)
17. Schedule 1 of the Customs Tariff lists those countries and places that are accorded
preferential rates of duty under the Australian System of Tariff Preferences (ASTP). Part 4
of this Schedule lists certain countries that are accorded preferential rates of duty for
developing countries.
18. Item 1 of the Bill lists Serbia in Part 4 of Schedule 1. This listing provides Serbia with
Developing Country status for the purposes of the ASTP and accords it a reduction in
customs duty on a defined range of goods imported into Australia.
19. The listing of Serbia as a Developing Country is consistent with Australia's approach to
other states which were formerly part of Yugoslavia and that have previously been listed in
Part 4 of Schedule 1.
20. The listing of Serbia as a Developing Country was given effect through the tabling of
Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2012 in the House of Representatives on
16 February 2012, with effect from 1 March 2012.
Item 2 - Application provision for item 1
21. Item 2 of the Bill is an application provision that provides that the amendment in item 1 of
the Bill, relating to goods imported from Serbia applies to goods entered for home
consumption on or after 1 March 2012, and to goods imported into Australia before
1 March 2012, where the time for working out the rate of import duty on those goods had
not occurred before that date. For example, this application provision will apply to goods
from Serbia that were warehoused on importation before 1 March 2012 and not entered
into home consumption until on or after that date.
Items 3 to 6 - Correction of technical errors in the Customs Tariff
Introductory comments
22. Items 3 to 6 correct a number of technical errors that have occurred in the Customs Tariff
as a result of drafting and clerical mistakes. These corrections maintain the quality of the
text of the Customs Tariff and ensure that Australia's Customs Tariff is correctly aligned
with the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding
System (Harmonized System). See further comments about the Harmonized System
under items 7 to 9 below.
23. These corrections do not affect the classification of goods or customs duty payable. The
commencement provisions of the Bill provide that these corrections will take effect on the
day after the Act receives the Royal Assent.
Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012
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Item 3 - Schedule 3 (Chapter 13, paragraph (ij) of Note 1)
24. Chapter 13 of the Customs Tariff applies to resins and vegetable extracts. Note 1 to this
Chapter lists goods that are excluded from the Chapter. Item 3 of the Bill removes an
unnecessary semi colon from paragraph (ij) of this Note.
Item 4 - Schedule 3 (heading 4202, the description of goods in column 2)
25. Heading 4202 in the Customs Tariff applies to a range of bags, cases and containers etc
including bags for beverages. Item 4 amends the reference from "beverage bags" to
"beverages bags". This amendment aligns Australia's Customs Tariff with the international
Harmonized System terminology.
Item 5 - Schedule 3 (subheading 4408.10.12, the description of goods in column 2)
26. Subheading 4408.10.12 specifies certain sheets of wood for veneering, but excluding
certain tropical woods. Item 5 removes an unnecessary comma in the text of this
subheading.
Item 6 - Schedule 3 (Chapter 48, Subheading Note 7)
27. Chapter 48 in the Customs Tariff applies to paper and paper products. Subheading Note
7 defines "light-weight coated paper" for the purposes of subheading 4810.22.00.
However, the correct reference should be to "4810.22" as this subheading is further
subdivided. Item 6 makes this correction in the Subheading Note.
Items 7 to 9 - Correction to align the Customs Tariff with the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System)
Introductory comments
28. Australia is a signatory to the Harmonized System. Since 1988, the Harmonized System
has formed the basis of Australia's commodity classifications for traded goods, both
imports and exports. The administering body, the World Customs Organization (WCO),
reviews the Harmonized System every five years to reflect changes in industry practice,
technological developments and changes in international trade patterns.
29. The Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Harmonized System Changes) Act 2011 contained
approximately 800 amendments (the HS2012 changes) to the Customs Tariff to
incorporate changes that resulted from the fourth review of the Harmonized System by the
WCO. These amendments took effect on 1 January 2012.
30. Items 7 to 9 of the Bill make two further amendments to the Customs Tariff in connection
with the HS2012 changes. Those amendments ensure that Australia's Customs Tariff is
correctly aligned with the Harmonised System.
Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012
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Item 7 - Schedule 3 (before subheading 5308.20.00)
31. One of the HS2012 changes, referred to above, incorrectly repealed subheading
5308.10.00, applicable to coir yarn. Coir yarn is derived from the husks of coconuts and is
commonly used in the manufacture of mats and rope. Without corrective action to re-
insert this subheading, Australia's Customs Tariff would be inconsistent, to that extent,
with those of our trading partners.
32. Prior to the commencement of the HS2012 changes, the Australian Customs and Border
Protection Service arranged for the publication of Customs Notice (No. 1) 2011 in the
Commonwealth Gazette GN 50 of 21 December 2011, in accordance with the provisions
of section 273EA of the Customs Act 1901. This Notice re-inserted subheading
5308.10.00 in the Customs Tariff, with effect from 1 January 2012.
33. As required under section 273EA, this alteration was also tabled in Parliament in Customs
Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2012 on 16 February 2012. The alteration is now included in item 7
of the Bill, also with date of effect of 1 January 2012.
Item 8 - Application provision for item 7
34. Item 8 of the Bill is an application provision that provides that the amendment in item 7 of
the Bill, relating coir yarn, entered for home consumption on or after 1 January 2012, and
to those goods imported into Australia before 1 January 2012, where the time for working
out the rate of import duty on those goods had not occurred before that date.
Item 9 - Schedule 3 (subheading 5601.2, the description of goods in column 2)
35. The HS2012 changes, inter alia, omitted subheading 5601.10 applicable to sanitary towels
and other sanitary articles, of textile wadding. These goods transferred to new
heading 9619 (sanitary articles).
36. Following this omission, the wording of the following subheading, 5601.2 "Wadding; other
articles of wadding", was no longer meaningful in the revised context. Consequently, the
WCO has subsequently requested that signatory parties to the Harmonized System
amend the wording of subheading 5601.2.
37. Item 9 of the Bill amends the text of this subheading to read "Wadding of textile materials
and articles thereof". This amendment gives effect to the WCO request, for the purposes
of the Australian Customs Tariff.
38. The commencement provisions of the Bill provide that this correction will take effect on the
day after the Act receives the Royal Assent.
Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012
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