Amendment of List of Exempt Native Specimens – Coral Sea, North West Slope and Western Deepwater Trawl, Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer, Torres Strait Finfish, Torres Strait Prawn, Torres Strait Trochus and Torres Strait Tropical Rock Lobster Fisheries, December 2017

Administered by Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Legislation au F2017L01695 Not in force Legislative Instrument

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EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

 

Amendment of the List of Exempt Native Specimens in accordance with Section 303DC

 

Section 303DB of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) provides for the establishment of a list of exempt native specimens. Specimens included in the list are exempt from the trade control provisions that apply to regulated native specimens.

 

The instrument deletes specimens from the list of exempt native specimens that are taken in seven Commonwealth fisheries specified in Schedule 1. The instrument also includes specimens taken from the same seven Commonwealth fisheries in the list of exempt native specimens, with notations that inclusion of the specimens in the list are subject to restrictions or conditions that the specimen, or the fish or invertebrate from which it is derived, was taken lawfully, and that the specimens are included in the list until the dates specified in Schedule 2.

 

The relevant fisheries are as follows:

        Commonwealth Coral Sea Fishery

        Commonwealth North West Slope and Western Deepwater Trawl Fisheries

        Torres Strait Beche-de-mer Fishery

        Torres Strait Finfish Fishery

        Torres Strait Prawn Fishery

        Torres Strait Trochus Fishery

        Torres Strait Tropical Rock Lobster Fishery

 

Section 10 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (and, for legislative instruments, as applied by section 13(1)(a) of the Legislation Act 2003) has the effect that references to Commonwealth legislation can be taken to be references to versions of that legislation as in force from time to time. All Commonwealth legislation can be freely accessed at the Federal Register of Legislation – https://www.legislation.gov.au/.

 

The effect of this instrument is to continue the export approval for the specimens until the dates specified in Schedule 2.

 

In determining to include the specimens in the list of exempt native specimens regard was had to the Australian Government’s ‘Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries – 2nd Edition.' Those Guidelines establish the criteria for assessment of the ecological sustainability of the relevant fishery’s management arrangements.

 

Subsection 303DC(3) of the EPBC Act provides that before amending the list, the Minister for the Environment and Energy must consult such other Commonwealth minister or ministers and such other minister or ministers of each state and self-governing territory, as the minister considers appropriate. The minister may also consult with such other persons and organisations as the minister considers appropriate. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority has been consulted and supports amending the list of exempt native specimens to include product derived from the seven Commonwealth-managed fisheries. In addition, the proposals to amend the list of exempt native specimens were advertised on the Department of the Environment and Energy’s website and comment was invited from interested people for at least 20 business days. No comments were received.

 

This instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.

 

The instrument commences the day after it is registered.


 

STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY FOR A BILL OR LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENT THAT DOES NOT RAISE ANY HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

 

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

 

Amendment of List of Exempt Native Specimens

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

The instrument deletes specimens from the list of exempt native specimens that are taken in seven Commonwealth fisheries specified in Schedule 1. The instrument also includes specimens taken from the same seven Commonwealth fisheries in the list of exempt native specimens, with notations that inclusion of the specimens in the list are subject to restrictions or conditions that the specimen, or the fish or invertebrate from which it is derived, was taken lawfully, and that the specimens are included in the list until the dates specified in Schedule 2.

 

The effect of this instrument is to continue the export approval for the specimens until the dates specified in Schedule 2.

 

Human rights implications

This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.

Conclusion

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.

 

Ilse Kiessling, Acting Assistant Secretary, Wildlife Trade and Biosecurity Branch (Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Energy)

 

 

 

 

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.