EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES & FORESTRY
AUSTRALIAN MEAT AND LIVE‑STOCK INDUSTRY
(HIGH QUALITY BEEF EXPORT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION) AMENDMENT ORDER 2005 No. 1
(Amendment Order)
1. Statutory basis
1.1 Under the Australian Meat and Live‑stock (Quotas) Act 1990 and the Australian Meat and Live‑stock Industry Act 1997, the Commonwealth may, where restrictions are imposed on exports of Australian meat, establish a scheme to allocate quotas among the holders of export licences.
1.2 This Amendment Order is made under section 17 of the Australian Meat and Live‑stock Industry Act 1997.
2. Background to order
2.1 The European Commission each year, commencing 1 July, allows Australia to ship 7,000 tonnes of high quality beef to the European Union (EU) under a country-specific quota.
2.2 The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) issues an order each year relating to the export of beef to the EU. The Australian Meat and Live-stock (High Quality Beef Export to the European Union) Order 2004 (the Order) was made on 24 February 2004 and gazetted on 26 February 2004 for the quota year from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005.
2.3 In providing details of how quota is used, the Order provides that quota not committed by eligible exporters and approved as a quota shipment by 1 March 2005 will lapse and will be available for use by any eligible exporter. An eligible exporter is defined as an exporter that has been allocated quota or to whom quota has been transferred. This process is intended to make maximum use of the annual access amount before the conclusion of the quota year on 30 June 2005.
2.4 The effect of this provision is to permit access to the quota by eligible exporters that have already surrendered the quota they have been unable to use and is therefore inconsistent with the intent of the Order.
2.5 The amendment removes the constraint whereby only eligible exporters have access to the uncommitted quota. It provides that any licensed exporter may apply for approval to export from the uncommitted amount, up to the annual access amount in the 2005 quota year.
3. Summary of order
3.1 This Amendment Order extends the opportunity for any exporters to use the uncommitted amount of quota entitlement available at the end of the 2004-2005 quota year.
4. Consultation
4.1 The administrative arrangements for meat export quotas have been developed in consultation with industry.
5. Explanation of sections under the Amendment Order
5.1 Section 1 – Name of order. This section provides for how the Amendment Order is to be cited.
Section 2 – Commencement. This section provides that the Amendment Order commences upon registration with the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Section 3 – Amendment of Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry (High Quality Beef Export to the European Union) Order 2004. This section advises that where ‘eligible’ appears in Subsections 12 (1), 13 (1), 14, 18 (1) and 18 (2), it should be deleted and that the definition of ‘eligible exporter should be deleted.