Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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EXPORT CONTROL AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES) BILL 2020

                              2019-2020-2021




      THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA




                     HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES




EXPORT CONTROL AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES) BILL 2020




         ADDENDUM TO THE EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




                            (Circulated by authority of
       the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management,
                         the Hon. David Littleproud MP)
EXPORT CONTROL AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES) BILL 2020
This addendum responds to concerns raised by the Senate Standing Committee for the
Scrutiny of Bills in Scrutiny Digest No. 1, dated 29 January 2021.

Item 9
The Australian Government supports Australian agricultural exports by facilitating trade. We
negotiate bilateral and multilateral agreements with trading partners. These agreements can
include reduced tariff rate arrangements for certain products. These are administered via tariff
rate quotas. Exporters can get reduced import taxes on entry of a certain volume of goods into
a particular country. This can save money for Australian businesses.
Tariff rate quota certificates enable specific amounts of goods to enter an importing country
at a reduced, or zero, tariff rate.
The Export Control Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2020 (Bill) will amend
existing section 386 of the Export Control Act 2020 (Act) so that rules modifying subsection
383(4) of the Act and subsection 43(1) of the Administrative Tribunals Act 1975 (AAT Act)
in relation to decisions on review will apply to reviewable decisions about tariff rate quota
certificates, in addition to tariff rate quota entitlements as already provided for. Tariff rate
quota certificates are a component of the tariff rate quota system, or systems, that may be
established by rules under section 264 of the Act and which also includes tariff rate quota
entitlements. Such certificates will be able to be issued to facilitate an export consignment's
entry to a country at the concessional tariff rate relevant to the tariff rate quota.
Tariff rate quota certificates depend on the product and its destination:
        For an allocated quota, the department issues a certificate to exporters who have an
         allocation. The certificate covers the volume of the quota request (either in kilograms,
         tonnes, litres or pieces).
        Some quotas are not allocated. The department issue certificates on a first-come, first-
         served basis.
Rules as described above can only be made where for the purpose of ensuring that tariff rate
quota amounts are not exceeded. The provisions of the Act and the AAT Act that may be
modified relate to the range of decisions open to the Secretary (in respect of internal merits
review) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (in respect of external merits review) upon
review of a reviewable decision. The ability to amend the application of these provisions in
relation to the tariff rate quota system recognises that, due to agreements in place with trading
partners, certificates issued for any quota type cannot exceed the stated access amount (that
is, must not be more than 100 per cent).
Eligibility for, and allocation of, the tariff rate quota entitlements for Australian exporters is
determined by the specific methods prescribed in the various Export Control (Tariff Rate
Quotas) Orders. These methods must factor in access amounts agreed with Australia's trading
partners.
It is proposed that rules under section 386 of the Act, as amended by the Bill, will be made in
equivalent terms to the current Export Control (Tariff Rate Quotas) Order 2019, which
prevents a person making a decision to overturn an initial decision if there is an insufficient
amount of quota available at that time. This means there will be no change to the current
administration of tariff rate quota certificates or impact on related trade agreements.
Overturning a decision where this would result in a quota being overfilled, or in the quota
allocation issued to an individual being overused, would result in subsequent consignments


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being refused their preferential tariff rates at import. Refusal of such tariff rate concessions
would negatively impact-- by way of the imposition or increase of import tariffs--other
parties who had correctly been issued tariff rate quota (TRQ) certificates. Most importantly,
the issuance of TRQ certificates that exceed the total access amounts available may also
undermine confidence in Australia's regulatory system.

Item 14
The intention is that whenever documents described in subsection 432(3), and specifically
paragraphs 432(3)(g) and (h) are applied, adopted or incorporated by the rules, these
documents will be publicly available. The documents will be accessible either on the
department's website or through a link to where the documents may be found on the website
of the relevant authority or body.
The purpose of the provisions in paragraphs 432(3)(g) and (h) is to ensure rules can be made
to enable accurate calculation of tariff rate quotas for the exportation of Australian goods into
a particular country.
Our key trading partners place a great deal of importance on the accurate calculation of tariff
rate quotas for the importation of goods. Considerable work may be undertaken by Australia
and our trading partners to enter into agreements that cover the trade between our respective
countries. These agreements may contain the amount of tariff rate quota available for a good
to a particular country or the method for calculating the tariff rate quota. This amendment
will ensure that if a responsible authority or body were to make changes to the documents
listed under subclause 432(3) after the Bill or rules are first made, the Bill, rules and
standards to be applied will not be out of date.
Paragraph 432(3)(h) operates in addition to paragraph 432(3)(g) in the circumstance an
agreement is entered into between Australia and another country (for example, a free trade
agreement with the European Union), which may be made by an authority or body that is not
responsible for regulating the importation of goods into that county.
To ensure Australian exports may have access to tariff rate quotas, it is necessary to provide
for incorporation of agreements between Australia and other countries that may contain the
amount of tariff rate quota and calculation of that tariff rate quota.
If these agreements were not incorporated, Australian exports may be unable to access the
available rates of tariff rate quotas and subsequently be exposed to higher importation taxes
upon entry into the importing country.




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