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CUSTOMS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2000 (NO. 8) 2000 NO. 210

STATUTORY RULES 2000 No. 210

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs

Customs Act 1901

Customs Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 8)

Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed for giving effect to the Act.

The Customs Amendment Act (No. 1) 2000 amends the Act to introduce a new registration and reporting scheme which permits certain owners of ships and aircraft to make abbreviated cargo reports in respect of the following three classes of cargo provided the cargo is low value cargo:

* cargo consigned from a particular mail-order house;

* cargo comprising reportable documents; and

* cargo comprising other goods of a kind prescribed by the regulations.

Only those owners that are registered as special reporters can make abbreviated cargo reports. That registration must be in respect of one or more of those types of cargo.

Sections 67EE, 67EF and 67EG of the Act set out conditions that the special reporter must comply with. Section 67EH of the Act provides that the regulations may, at any time, provide that:

(a) if a person is first registered as a special reporter after that time; or

(b) if a person's registration as a special reporter is renewed after that time:

that registration, or registration as renewed, is subject to such further conditions relevant to registration or renewal of registration as a special reporter as the regulations specify.

The purpose of the amending Regulations is to amend the Customs Regulations 1926 (the Customs Regulations) to specify a condition that will apply to .9 person who is registered after the commencement of the proposed Regulations as a special reporter in relation to low value cargo consigned from a particular mail-order house, and to a person whose registration as such a special reporter is renewed after the commencement of the proposed Regulations.

The amending Regulations will provide that a person's registration (or renewed registration) is subject to the additional condition that if the person proposes to make an abbreviated cargo report covering an item of goods that the person has not previously informed Customs to be goods sold by the mail-order house, the person must give Customs a description of the item in writing (subregulation 31AA(2)).

The description of the item may include a print or photograph of the item (subregulation 31AA(3)).

This information must be given at least 30 days before the making of an abbreviated cargo report which includes those goods. This will allow Customs ' to check whether the goods are prohibited imports or subject to other restrictions such as quarantine.

The amendments are explained in more detail in the attachment.

The Regulations commence on gazettal.

ATTACHMENT

Customs Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 8) Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 provides that amending Regulations are the Customs Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 8).

Regulation 2 - Commencement

Regulation 2 provides that the proposed Regulations would commence on gazettal.

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Customs Regulations 1926

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Customs Regulations 1926 (the Customs Regulations).

Schedule 1 - Amendment

Item 1 -After regulation 31A

Item 1 inserts a new regulation 31AA into the Customs Regulations.

New subregulation 31AA(1) provides that under section 67EH of the Act, if after the commencement of new regulation 31AA, a person is registered as a special reporter in relation to low value cargo consigned from a particular mail-order house or the person's registration as such a special reporter is renewed then that person's registration or renewed registration is subject to the condition set out in new subregulation 31AA(2).

New subregulation 31AA(2) provides that if the person proposes to make an abbreviated cargo report covering an item of goods that the person has not previously informed Customs to be goods sold by the mail-order house then the person must give Customs, at least 30 days before making the report a description of the item in writing.

The note to new subregulation 31AA(2) provides that section 25 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 defines writing. Under that section 'writing' includes any mode of representation or reproducing words, figures, drawings or symbols in a visible form.

New subregulation 31AA(3) makes it clear that a description of the item may include a print or photograph of the item.