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13060—Cat. No. 97 2651 9 ISBN 0644
516968
1998
THE
PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
NATIONAL
RESIDUE SURVEY ADMINISTRATION
AMENDMENT BILL
1998
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of
the Minister for Primary
Industries and
Energy, the Hon John Anderson
MP)
NATIONAL RESIDUE SURVEY
ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT BILL 1998
OUTLINE
This
Bill is part of a package of three Bills designed to correct technical faults in
the National Residue Survey legislation and to consolidate 22 levy imposition
Acts into two Acts.
The National
Residue Survey Administration Amendment Bill 1998 amends the National
Residue Survey Administration Act 1992 to overcome technical faults that had
the effect of making liability for payment of National Residue Survey (NRS)
levies dependent upon liability for the payment of another primary industry
levy. The original intention had been that the liabilities for payment of both
levies would arise at the same point in the process and would be collected at
the same time, not that one should be dependent on the other. The Act is
therefore being amended to make it clear that NRS levies are ‘stand
alone’ levies, levied separately from other primary industry levies. They
will still arise at the same point in the transaction process and be collected
at the same time as other primary industry
levies.
The legislation is also being
amended to ensure that the NRS levy on onions is valid. This is also needed
because NRS levies have been determined to be dependent on liability for another
levy. In the case of onions that other levy rate is set at $0.00 per tonne and
there is some question as to whether such a rate would trigger the liability for
payment of an NRS levy. To clarify this, the Act is being amended
retrospectively to validate the imposition of the NRS levy on onions. Once past
payments are validated the onion levy is repealed and will become a ‘stand
alone’ levy along with the other NRS
levies.
The bill repeals the 22 NRS levy
imposition Acts, the contents of which are then included in the two other bills
in this package the National Residue Survey Levy (Customs) Bill 1998 and
the National Residue Survey Levy (Excise) Bill
1998.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
STATEMENT
The proposed amendments
will have no financial implications for the Commonwealth.
NOTES ON
CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short
title
This clause provides for the short
title of the Act to be the National Residue Survey Administration Amendment
Act 1998.
Clause
2: Commencement
This clause provides for
Schedule 1, relating to the validation of the onion levy, to have effect from 1
February 1994, and for Schedules 2 and 3, relating to the imposition of the
various NRS commodity levies, to come into effect on the date of proclamation of
the Act, or if proclamation has not occurred within six months of Royal Assent,
the day after that six months. The remainder of the Act will come into effect
upon Royal Assent.
Although the validation
of the onion levy involves backdating amendments, this is to ensure that levies
already collected were collected validly. No new levies are being introduced by
this measure and the onion industry supports this approach. After the remainder
of the Act comes into effect these arrangements are repealed and the onion levy
is included in the new arrangements applying to all other NRS levies allowing
them to operate on a ‘stand alone’
basis.
Clause
3: Schedule(s)
This clause provides for
the amendment or repeal of various Acts and regulations as set out in the
Schedules.
Schedule 1
¾
Amendments commencing on 1 February
1994
National Residue Survey
Administration Act 1992
Item
1: At the end of section 9
This item
inserts an additional sub-section into section 9 of the National Residue
Survey Administration Act 1992 to validate the onion levy payments since
1994 by creating a liability to pay a National Residue Survey Levy on onions
even if the rate of the horticultural levy upon which the levy was dependent was
set at zero.
Primary Industries Levies
and Charges Collection (National Residue
Survey−Onion)
Regulations
Item 2: Regulation 4
(definition of NRS levy)
This
item replaces the definition of a National Residue Survey Levy in the Primary
Industries Levies and Charges Collection (National Residue
Survey−Onion) Regulations
to specify that it applies to the onion levy imposed by the National Residue
Survey (Horticultural Products Export) Levy Act 1992 or to that part of the
levy referred to in Section 10 of Horticultural Levy Act 1987. Since
there is no levy rate set for onions this will mean that the rate will be zero
and the amendment at Item 1 will come into
operation.
Item 3: Regulation 4
(definition of NRS Levy Act)
This
item replaces the definition of NRS Levy Act in the Primary Industries
Levies and Charges Collection (National Residue
Survey−Onion) Regulations
by confining the definition to the legislation covering export onions
only.
Item 4: Regulation
13
This item removes ‘NRS’
from the text and the heading of the sub-section. This amendment, along with
the amendments in Items 5, 6 and 7, is designed to ensure that the dependence on
liability to pay a marketing levy on onions does not preclude the liability to
pay the NRS levy on onions.
Item
5: Regulation 13
This item removes the
words “in relation to which there is liability to pay charge”. This
amendment, along with the amendments in Items 4, 6 and 7, is designed to ensure
that the dependence on liability to pay a marketing levy on onions does not
preclude the liability to pay the NRS levy on
onions.
Item 6: Regulation
14
This item removes ‘NRS’
from the text and the heading of the sub-section. This amendment, along with
the amendments in Items 4, 5 and 7, is designed to ensure that the dependence on
liability to pay a marketing levy on onions does not preclude the liability to
pay the NRS levy on onions.
Item
7: Regulation 15
This item inserts
‘NRS’ to clarify that the levy payable is an NRS levy. This
amendment, along with the amendments in Items 4, 5 and 6, is designed to ensure
that the dependence on liability to pay a marketing levy on onions does not
preclude the liability to pay the NRS levy on
onions.
Item
8: Transitional¾regulations may be
amended
This item preserves the current
situation whereby the onion regulations can be amended or repealed by
regulations made under the Horticultural Export Charge Act 1987, the
Horticultural Levy Act 1987, the National Residue Survey Administration
Act 1992, or the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act
1991.
Schedule
2¾Amendments
commencing on
Proclamation
National Residue
Survey Administration Act
1992
Item
1: Title
This item amends the title of
the National Residue Survey Administration Act 1992 by omitting the
provision for the collection of NRS levy imposed by various Acts. The amended
structure of this legislation provides for the collection of NRS levies under
the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act
1991.
Item 2: Section 4 (definition
of National Residue Survey
Levy)
This item replaces the
definition of ‘National Residue Survey levy’ to reflect the amended
structure of this package of legislation which combines 22 levy imposition Acts
into two imposition Acts covering levies that are duties of excise and levies
that are duties of customs respectively.
Item 3: Section 4 (definition of Related Act)
This item removes the definition of ‘Related Act’ because the amended structure of the legislation package removes the link between liability to pay NRS levies and liability to pay levies imposed by related Acts.
Item 4: Section 4 (definition of Table)
This item removes the definition of ‘Table’ because the consolidation of the 22 NRS levy imposition Acts into two removes the need for a reference table in this Act.
Item 5: Section 5
This item repeals Section 5 which defines how references to other Acts are to be read because the amended structure of the legislation package removes the link between NRS levies and levies imposed by related Acts and therefore removes the need to refer to other Acts.
Item 6: Part 4
This item repeals Part 4 of the National Residue Survey Administration Act 1992 to remove the apparent dependence of liability for NRS levies on other primary industry levies.
Item 7: Schedule
This item repeals the Schedule to the National Residue Survey Administration Act 1992 that contained maximum levy rates and related Acts for the imposition of NRS levies. The schedule is no longer needed because the consolidation of the amended structure of the legislation package removes the need for reference to related Acts and the maximum levy rates have been transferred into the two new imposition Acts.
Item 8: Transitional¾pre-commencement levies
This item provides that any obligations arising under the current Act and related Acts, as specified in the table in sub-paragraph (3), still remain after the commencement of this Act.
Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991
Item 9: Subsection 4(4)
This item provides for the equivalence of meanings of words used in associated Acts to the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991 to include any schedule attached to an associated Act. This will include the schedules attached to the National Residue Survey (Excise) Levy Bill and the National Residue Survey (Customs) Levy Bill upon commencement.
Item 10: Schedule 2
This item removes NRS levy imposition Acts that imposed levies from the schedule of the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991 detailing Acts that impose levies.
Item 11: Schedule 2
This item inserts the titles of the two consolidated levy imposition Acts into the schedule of the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991 detailing Acts that impose levies in place of those removed by Item 10.
Schedule 3−Repeal of Acts
Item 1: Repeal of Acts
This item repeals the 22 levy imposition Acts that will be replaced by the two consolidated imposition Acts.