EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Amendment of the List of Exempt Native Specimens in accordance with Section 303DC(1)(a)
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.
This instrument varies conditions to which inclusion of specimens in the list of exempt native specimens are subject, to allow continued export approval of the specimens until the specified dates. The relevant specimens are those taken in eight fisheries managed respectively by the: Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources; the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries; the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment; Primary Industries and Regions South Australia; the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, and the Department of Fisheries Western Australia. The eight fisheries and the specified dates for inclusion are listed below:
- Victorian Scallop (Ocean) Fishery - 4 August 2017
- Victorian Giant Crab Fishery - 4 August 2017
- New South Wales Estuary Prawn Trawl Fishery - 4 August 2017
- New South Wales Abalone Fishery - 4 August 2017
- Tasmanian King Island Cast Bull Kelp Fishery - 4 August 2017
- South Australian Lakes and Coorong Fishery - 4 August 2017
- Western Australian Bech-de-mer Fishery - 4 August 2017
- Torres Strait Trochus Fishery - 4 August 2017.
References to definitions in instruments made under or in force under legislation are to be read as references to provisions in those instruments and legislation as in force from time to time.
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. In this instance, the Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Energy consulted with the: Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources; the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries; the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment; Primary Industries and Regions South Australia; the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, and the Department of Fisheries Western Australia, as these agencies have management responsibilities for the eight fisheries concerned.
This instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
The instrument commenced on the day after it was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY FOR A BILL OR LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENT THAT DOES NOT RAISE ANY HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES