Halifax Vogel Group Pty Ltd and Comptroller-General of Customs

Halifax Vogel Group Pty Ltd (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Comptroller-General of Customs to revoke a Tariff Concession Order (TCO). The TCO in question related to sheet aluminium composite, with specific core and skin compositions, classified under tariff item 7606.12.00. The Comptroller-General's decision to revoke the TCO was based on a request lodged by Alucoil Composites Pty Ltd, an Australian manufacturer of aluminium composite panels.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Comptroller-General had correctly applied section 269C of the *Customs Act 1901* (Cth) in revoking the TCO. Specifically, the Tribunal was required to determine if the Comptroller-General was satisfied that, on the day Alucoil lodged its request for revocation, Alucoil was a producer in Australia of goods substitutable for the goods subject to the TCO, and that if the TCO had not been in force on the day the original TCO application was lodged, the Comptroller-General would not have made the TCO.

The Tribunal affirmed the Comptroller-General's decision, finding that the core criteria under section 269C had been satisfied. It was not disputed that Alucoil manufactured aluminium composite panels in Australia, and that these panels were of the same type as those covered by the applicant's TCO. The Tribunal accepted that Alucoil's manufactured goods met the definition of "goods produced in Australia" and were substitutable for the imported goods, aligning with the principles established in *Riverwood Cartons Pty Ltd v Chief Executive Officer of Customs* regarding the use of goods. The Comptroller-General was therefore satisfied that the conditions for revocation under section 269C had been met.