Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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GREENHOUSE AND ENERGY MINIMUM STANDARDS (REGISTRATION FEES) BILL 2012

                                      2010-2011-2012


          THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA


                             HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES


              GREENHOUSE AND ENERGY MINIMUM STANDARDS
                     (REGISTRATION FEES) BILL 2012


                 SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM


                  Amendments to be moved on Behalf of the Government


     (Circulated by authority of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency,
                              the Honourable Greg Combet MP)

ITEM 1 CLARIFYING THE LIMIT ON REGISTRATION FEES

Item 1 amends clause 9 of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration
Fees) Bill 2012 to clarify a limit on the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards
Regulator's power to specify registration fees.

When specifying or calculating the amount of a registration fee, the GEMS Regulator may
only take into account certain costs incurred administering the Greenhouse and Energy
Minimum Standards Act 2012.

Registration fees may only recover the costs incurred processing applications to register
products under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012, and costs incurred
monitoring compliance with the Act. Costs incurred processing registration applications may
include costs such as the staff required to process and approve applications, the costs of the
establishing and maintaining the online portal and database for registration applications, the
cost of procuring specialist advice to identify whether niche products comply with relevant
standards, or the cost of communicating with existing and prospective applicants.

Costs incurred in compliance monitoring may include testing products for compliance with
relevant standards, training inspectors and conducting store audits or online monitoring to
identify whether products comply with standards, and the cost of communicating with
persons who are required to comply with the Act.

Registration fees initially were intended for the purpose of cost recovery only, and this
intention was specified in the explanatory memorandum to the Greenhouse and Energy
Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Bill 2012. However, the Senate Standing Committee
for the Scrutiny of Bills enquired whether thought had been given to making this limitation
more clear on the face of the legislation. This amendment will make the policy intention to
limit registration fees clearer in the legislation.