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1997
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
WINE EXPORT CHARGE BILL
1997
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy,
the Hon John
Anderson MP)
80920 Cat. No. 96 7361 X ISBN 0644
497645
WINE EXPORT CHARGE BILL 1997
GENERAL
OUTLINE
1. The Wine Export Charge Bill imposes a charge on exports of
Australian wine.
2. The charge will assist in funding the generic
export promotion of
Australian wine by the Australian Wine and Brandy
Corporation.
3. The charge will be based on the value of wine exported,
and will be
paid by wine exporters.
4. The wine export charge was
requested by the wine industry. It has
strong support from among small,
medium and large winemakers.
This was reflected in the vote taken on a
motion supporting the
introduction of the charge at the 1996 Annual General
Meeting of
the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation. 94% of all votes
were
in favour of the motion, with 6% against.
5. The Australian Wine
and Brandy Corporation has statutory
responsibility for the generic
promotion of Australian wine in
exports markets. The Corporation is
concerned that its export
promotion programs would have to be wound down
with the
expiry of grants for this purpose from State and Commonwealth
Governments. It supports the introduction of the export charge to
ensure continued funding for its generic export promotion
programs.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
6. The funds raised by the charge
will be paid to the Australian Wine
and Brandy Corporation via the
Consolidated Revenue Fund, with
no impact on the Commonwealth
Budget.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short title
7. The Act
will be called the Wine Export Charge Act 1997.
Clause 2:
Commencement
8. Clause 2 provides for the Act to commence on the day on
which it
receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3: Principal
Object
9. Clause 3 describes the main aim of the Act, which is to provide
sufficient funds for the export promotion activities of the Australian
Wine and Brandy Corporation.
Clause 4: Act binds the
Crown
10. The Act binds the Crown with respect to each State, the
Australian
Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, as well as the
external
Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling)
Islands.
Clause 5: Definitions
11. Clause 5 defines terms used in
the Act. It also provides that where
terms used in the Act are not defined
in it, but are defined in the
Primary Industries Levies and Charges
Collection Act 1991 (the
Collection Act), the definitions in the Collection
Act apply.
Clause 6: Imposition of charge
12. Clause 6 imposes the
export charge on exports of Australian wine
with effect from the date on
which this Clause commences, whether
the wine was produced before or after
the date on which this Clause
commences. As the actual rate of the export
charge will be
determined by regulations made under the Act (as provided for
by
Clauses 7 and 10) the export charge will come into effect when the
Bill has received Royal Assent and the regulations commence.
Clause
7: Rate of charge
13. Clause 7 (1) provides that the amount of the export
charge to be paid
will be calculated by reference to a scale to be
incorporated in
regulations made under the Act.
14. Clause 7(2) sets
a maximum limit on the amount of the export
charge of 0.5% of the value of
the wine exported.
Clause 8: By whom charge payable
15. The effect
of this Clause will be to make the exporter responsible for
paying the
export charge. For consistency with the provisions of the
Collection Act,
however, Clause 8 uses the term ÔproducerÕ.
Regulations to be
made under the Collection Act will determine
that for the purposes of the
wine export charge the ÔproducerÕ will be
the
exporter.
Clause 9: Exemptions from charge
16. Clause 9 provides
for exemptions to be set down in regulations for
particular types of wine
exports and for particular types of exporters.
These could include small
shipments to wine trade shows, and
tertiary institutions where the wine is
to be used for study or
research purposes.
Clause 10:
Regulations
17. Clause 10(1) enables the Governor-General to make
regulations
under the Act. Clause 10(1)(a) allows the determination by the
regulations of details required or allowed by the Act to be
determined.
Clause 10(1)(b) allows the regulations to determine
other details that need
to be or can be determined in giving effect to
the Act.
18. Clause
10(2) allows for the making of recommendations to the
Minister by the
Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation with
respect to the rate of the
export charge as provided for by Clause 7, as
long as the conditions set
down under Clause 10(3) are met.
19. Clause 10(3) prevents the Australian
Wine and Brandy Corporation
from making such recommendations (on the rate of
the export
charge) to the Minister unless a motion supporting the
recommendations has been put to an annual general meeting of the
levy
and charge payers to the Corporation.
20. Clause 10(4) requires the
Governor-General to take into account
certain matters when making
regulations relating to the rate of the
export charge. These matters are
covered by Clause 10(4)(a) and
10(4)(b).
21. Clause 10(4)(a) requires
the Governor-General to take into account
recommendations to the Minister
from the Australian Wine and
Brandy Corporation made under Clause 10(2)
regarding the rate of
the export charge.
22. Clause 10(4)(b)
requires the Governor-General to take into account
the notification of the
number of votes cast for and against a motion
regarding the rate of the
export charge at an annual general meeting
of the Corporation. The
Corporation is required by section 29ZA of
the Australian Wine and Brandy
Corporation Act 1980 to provide
this information to the
Minister.