Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
1998-1999-2000
THE
PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
CUSTOMS AMENDMENT
(ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES) BILL
2000
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs,
Senator the Hon Amanda
Vanstone)
ISBN: 0642 430713
CUSTOMS AMENDMENT (ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES)
BILL 2000
OUTLINE
1. The
Government announced on 13 August 1998 its intention to collect customs and
excise duty on certain alcoholic beverages that have not previously been subject
to customs or excise duty, from 1 July 2000. From that date all imported
alcoholic beverages other than those which are subject to the Wine Equalisation
Tax will be brought within the Customs
regime.
2. The Customs Tariff Act 1995
(“the Customs Tariff”) and Excise Tariff Act 1921 will be
amended to make the relevant alcoholic beverages subject to customs or excise
duty. The amendments to the Customs Act 1901 (“the Act”)
complement the amendments that will be made to the Customs
Tariff.
3. The purpose of this Bill is to amend
the Act to:
• extend to certain
prescribed alcoholic beverages the provisions which currently restrict the entry
into home consumption of spirits in bulk
containers;
• give the Chief Executive
Officer of Customs (“the CEO”) the authority to permit to be entered
into home consumption those alcoholic beverages in bulk containers having a
capacity of more than 20 litres;
and
• make decisions of the CEO made in
respect to the entry of certain alcoholic beverages in bulk containers subject
to the review of Administrative Appeals
Tribunal.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
STATEMENT
4. Measures specified in the Bill
are of a minor and administrative nature only and have no financial
impact.
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL
CLAUSES
Clause 1 Short
Title
1. This clause provides for the Act
to be cited as the Customs Amendment (Alcoholic Beverages) Act
2000.
Clause 2
Commencement
2. This clause provides that
the Act commences on 1 July 2000.
Clause 3
Schedule(s)
3. This clause is the formal
enabling provision for the Schedule to the Act, providing that each Act that is
specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended as
indicated.
4. The clause also provides that any
other item in a Schedule has effect according to its terms. This is a standard
enabling clause for transitional, savings and application items in amending
legislation.
SCHEDULE 1 - CUSTOMS ACT
1901
Item 1 Part VA
(heading)
1. This item repeals the heading
to Part VA of the Customs Act 1901 (“the Act”)
(“Special provisions relating to spirits”) and replaces it with
“Special provisions relating to customable
beverages”.
2. Part VA of the Act sets
out certain special provisions that relate to spirits. These special provisions
restrict the circumstances in which spirits can be entered into home consumption
in bulk containers. These amendments will extend those special provisions so
that they apply to customable beverages.
3. “Customable beverage” is
defined in item 3 below.
4. These amendments
minimise the risk to the revenue by ensuring that the bottling of all customable
beverages is conducted under Customs control. The amendments also provide
consistency in the treatment of spirits and other customable beverages under
sections 104 and 105 of the Act.
Item
2 Section 103 (definition of bulk
container)
5. This item omits
“spirit” from section 103 of the Act and replaces it with
“customable beverage”.
Item
3 Section 103
6. This item inserts into
section 103 of the Act a definition of “customable beverage” for the
purposes of Part VA of that Act.
7. This term
is defined to mean like customable goods that are described in Chapter 22 of
Schedule 3 to the Customs Tariff and have been
prescribed.
8. The term “like customable
goods” has the same meaning as it has in section 69 of the Act. Under
section 69 “like customable goods” are
either:
• goods to which section 68 of
the Act applies that are classified under a subheading specified in column 1 of
the Table of section 19 of the Customs Tariff;
or
• goods which are prescribed for the
purposes of section 69.
9. Only those goods
that are like customable goods and are described in Chapter 22 of Schedule 3 to
the Customs Tariff can be prescribed for the purposes of the definition of
“customable beverage”. Chapter 22 of Schedule 3 to the Customs
Tariff describes those goods that are beverages, spirits and
vinegars.
Item 4 Section 103 (definition of
spirit)
10. This item repeals the
definition of spirit in section 103 of the
Act.
11. It is anticipated that those spirits
that are currently subject to the restrictions in Part VA of the Act will be
prescribed for the purposes of the definition of “customable
beverage” and will continue to be the subject to the restrictions
contained in Part VA of the Act.
Item
5 Section 104
12. This item replaces the
term “spirit” with “customable beverage” in section 104
of the Act.
13. The note to this item ensures
that the heading to section 104 is amended by replacing “Spirit”
with “Customable beverage”.
Item
6 Subsection 105(1)
14. This item replaces
the term “Spirit” with “Customable beverage” in
subsection 105(1) of the Act.
15. The note to
this item ensures that the heading to section 105 is amended by replacing
“spirit” with “customable
beverage”.
Item 7 Paragraphs 105(1)(a)
and (b)
16. This item replaces the term
“spirit” with “customable beverage” in paragraphs
105(1)(a) and (b) of the Act.
Item
8 Subsection 105(2)
17. This item replaces
the first occurrence of the term “spirit” with “customable
beverage” in subsection 105(2) of the
Act.
Item 9 Paragraph
105(2)(a)
18. This item replaces the words
“is from time to time prescribed” with “the CEO approves in
writing” in paragraph 105(2)(a) of the Act. This will allow the CEO the
flexibility to approve the entry of customable beverages in bulk containers
without the need to amend regulations each time a new volume container is
approved.
Item 10 Paragraph
105(2)(b)
19. This item replaces the term
“spirit” with “customable beverage” in paragraph
105(2)(b) of the
Act.
Item
11 After paragraph 273GA(1)(b)
20. This
item inserts a new paragraph 273GA(1)(baa) into the Act so that a person
affected by a decision of the CEO made in respect of the entry of customable
beverages in bulk containers can have that decision reviewed by the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal.