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2002
CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 1)
2002
(Circulated by the Authority of
the
Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator
the Honourable
Chris Ellison)
CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 1) 2002
The purpose of this Bill, which consists of three Schedules, is to enact
a range of amendments to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (the
Tariff).
These amendments clarify the legality of Additional Notes
vis-a-vis the international Section and Chapter Notes and ensure that
Australia’s treatment of “salsa”, a kind of sauce, is
consistent with international practice.
The Bill also contains amendments
to the Tariff of a minor editorial nature.
FINANCIAL IMPACT SATEMENT
The amendments have
no financial impact.
CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 1)
2002
Clause 1 - Short Title - Customs Tariff Amendment Act (No. 1)
2002.
Clause 2 - Commencement
This clause specifies the date
and time of commencement of each of the three Schedules contained in the Bill.
It provides that:
Schedule 1 - commences 14 days after this Bill
receives the Royal Assent.
Schedule 2 - commences immediately after the
commencement of the Customs Tariff Amendment Act (No. 5) 2001. That Act
commenced on 1 January 2002.
Schedule 3 - commences immediately
after the commencement of items 27 and 290 of the Customs Tariff Amendment
Act (No. 5) 2001. That Act commenced on 1 January
2002.
Clause 3 - Schedules
This clause is the formal enabling
provision for the Schedules to the Bill, providing that each Act specified in a
Schedule is amended in accordance with the applicable items of that Schedule.
The clause also provides that other items of the Schedules have effect according
to their own terms.
SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS
Item 1
This amendment inserts a new subsection 7(3) into
the Customs Tariff Act 1995, (the Tariff). New subsection 7(3)
specifies that a reference in the Interpretation Rules to “Notes”
includes a reference to “Additional Notes”. The Interpretation
Rules are the rules for the classification of goods and are contained in
Schedule 2 of the Australian Customs Tariff.
These Rules specify that the
classification of goods must be determined with reference to relevant Section or
Chapter Notes. Additional Notes are inserted into the Tariff by the Australian
Government and have the same force as the international Section and Chapter
Notes. Additional Notes often result from an Australian court decision on a
specific aspect of a tariff classification dispute and are usually inserted to
clarify the classification of goods and to provide definitions for Australian
domestic purposes.
The legality of Australian Additional Notes vis-a-vis
the international Section and Chapter Notes was raised in a recent case before
the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Although Customs decision in that matter
was affirmed, it was considered prudent to amend section 7(3) to prevent future
legal challenges of this nature.
Item 2
The amendment in
item 2 inserts a new Additional Note into Chapter 21 of the Tariff to specify
that “salsas” are to be classified in heading 2103 with other
sauces.
The classification of “salsas”, a kind of sauce, has
been the subject of dispute for some years. Following advice from the World
Customs Organization that these goods are correctly classified in heading 2103
in the Harmonized System (HS), as they have the characteristics of a sauce, this
Additional Note will ensure Australia’s treatment of these goods is
consistent with international practice.
Item 3
The
amendment in item 3 inserts a post-2005 phasing rate of duty for item 59 in Part
III of Schedule 4 of the Tariff. Item 59 provides for the importation of
secondhand passenger motor vehicles without the payment of the penalty rate of
duty of $12,000, subject to Departmental by-laws. This was omitted in error
from the Customs Tariff Amendment (ACIS Implementation) Act
1999.
This amendment will ensure the correct rate of duty applies to
secondhand passenger motor vehicles post-2005.
Schedule 2
Items 1 to 11 and 14 to 39
The amendments contained in
these items are of a minor editorial nature and include the correction of
spelling and punctuation errors and the amendment of text to clarify the
coverage of headings and subheadings.
These errors were contained in the
Customs Tariff Amendment Act (No. 5) 2001, which also amended the Tariff.
That Act gave effect to approximately 800 changes to the Tariff resulting from
the second review of the HS by the World Customs Organization. While the
errors are of a minor nature, their correction is necessary to maintain the
integrity of the Tariff.
Item 12
The amendment in this item
adds a post-2005 phasing rate of duty for tariff subheading 4009.42.10. This
subheading applies to rubber pipes and tubes used in passenger motor vehicles.
The post-2005 phasing rate of duty was not transcribed into Customs Tariff
Amendment Act (No. 5) 2001 from the tariff subheading applicable to these
goods prior to 1 January 2002.
Item 13
The amendment in
this item corrects the duty rate for tariff subheading 4203.21.10, which applies
to mittens and mitts lined with furskin and used for sporting purposes.
Following a re-examination of the classification of these goods in the Tariff
prior to
1 January 2002, a rate of duty of 5% has been applied to this
subheading to reflect the rate previously applicable to these goods.
Item 1
This amendment to the Customs Tariff Amendment
Act (No. 5) 2001 corrects item 27 in that Act. The amendment ensures that
new Subheading Note 1 to Chapter 12 is correctly inserted into the Tariff after
Note 5 to Chapter 12.
Item 2
This amendment to the
Customs Tariff Amendment Act (No. 5) 2001 corrects item 290 in that Act.
The amendment ensures that both Note 3 to Section 16 and Note 6 to Chapter 85
are correctly amended and inserted into the Tariff.