CEO Determination No. 2 of 2010

as amended

made under section 126DA of the

Customs Act 1901

This compilation was prepared on 4 January 2012
taking into account amendments up to CEO Amendment of Information Technology Requirements Determination No. 1 of 2011

Prepared by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

PART 1 - PRELIMINARY

1.01 Name of Determination

This Determination is CEO Determination No. 2 of 2010.

1.02 Definitions

In this Determination:

Act means the Customs Act 1901;

Secure HTTP means secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol;

S/MIME means Secure/Multipurpose Mail Extensions;

SMTP means Simple Mail Transfer Protocol;

UN/EDIFACT means the international standard for EDI, known as Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport, administered by the United Nations.

PART 2 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN IMPORT DECLARATIONS MADE UNDER SECTION 71A OF THE ACT AND COMMUNICATIONS MADE UNDER SECTION 119AA OF THE ACT [APPLICATION TO MOVE, ALTER OR INTERFERE WITH GOODS FOR EXPORT] “OR UNDER SECTION 119AB OF THE ACT [APPLICATION TO MOVE, ALTER OR INTERFERE WITH GOODS NO LONGER FOR EXPORT]

2.01 Information technology requirements for communication

Persons:

(a)   who have personal property in goods to which section 68 of the Act applies that are intended to be entered for home consumption and that are imported into Australia through the Post; and

(b)   who wish to communicate with Customs electronically under section 71A of the Act in respect of such goods using the approved statement “Import Declaration (N 10) - Post (B374 JULY10)”;

may communicate with Customs using a SMTP e-mail addressed to a nominated Customs email address dedicated to the receipt of such messages.

Persons who wish to communicate with Customs electronically under section 119AA or section 119AB of the Act must communicate with Customs using a SMTP e-mail addressed to a nominated Customs email address dedicated to the receipt of such messages.

2.02 Information technology requirements for signature

A person who is required to give the person’s signature to Customs in connection with an electronic communication under section 71A or section 119AA or section 119AB of the Act must:

a)            where the communication is being sent by an individual (including an individual sending the communication on behalf of an organisation) – place their full name in the SMTP e-mail which contains an import declaration made under section 71A, or an application made under subsection 119AA(2) or subsection 119AB(2), of the Act;

b)            where the communication is being sent by an individual on behalf of an organisation – place the name and ABN of the organisation (if the organisation has an ABN) in the SMTP e-mail which contains an import declaration made under section 71A, or an application made under subsection 119AA(2) or subsection 119AB(2); and

c)             in any event take such other steps in relation to signing the communication as is required in the statement approved (as in force from time to time) made for the purposes of section 71A or section 119AA or section 119AB of the Act.

PART 3 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS FOR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

3.01 Information technology requirements for communication

Subject to the exceptions set out below, the information technology requirements in items 3.02 to 3.04 apply to a person who is required or permitted to make a communication with Customs under:

(a)   Division 3 or 4 of Part IV of the Act; or

(b)   Division 2 of Part VI of the Act; or

(c)    section 163 of the Act; or

(d)   Part IX of the Act

and wishes to communicate with Customs electronically.

The information technology requirements in items 3.02 to 3.04 do not apply to a person who wishes to communicate electronically with Customs in the circumstances set out in item 2.01 of Part 2 of this Determination.

3.02 General requirements for electronic communications

The person must:

a)            communicate either by:

(i) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) message using an S/MIME SMTP e-mail to a specified Customs e-mail address; or

(ii) the Customs Interactive facility using a Secure HTTP form on a Customs website;

b)            be registered in:

(i) the Customs Connect Facility, and

(ii) the Integrated Cargo System;

c)             communicate with Customs using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in accordance with the Commonwealth’s Gatekeeper® strategy administered by the Australian Government Information Management Office (within the Department of Finance and Administration) ; and

d)            configure the person’s e-mail software with the appropriate digital certificate(s) to be able to decrypt encrypted e-mails sent to them from Customs.

3.03 Standards and message specifications for EDI messages

A person who communicates electronically with Customs by EDI message must:

a)            use the UN/EDIFACT D99B standards and attach the EDI message to an S/MIME SMTP e-mail.  The method for applying the standards must be in accordance with the ICS Message Implementation Guidelines of the CMR Software Developers Guide, as in force at the time when this Determination takes effect and published on the Customs web site (www.customs.gov.au);

b)            sign and encrypt the message to Customs; and

c)             be able to decrypt an EDI message from Customs.

3.04 Customs Interactive

A person who communicates electronically with Customs via the Customs Interactive facility must use the web-based approved statements made available by the Customs business application, that is, the Integrated Cargo System.  A person must use a currently supported version of Microsoft Internet Explorer for such transactions.

3.05 Information technology requirements for signature

The information technology requirements in items 3.06 to 3.08 apply to a person who is required to sign an electronic communication with Customs under:

(a)   Division 3 or 4 of Part IV of the Act; or

(b)   Division 2 of Part VI of the Act; or

(c)    section 163 of the Act; or

(d)   Part IX of the Act.

3.06 Digital signature and certificate

1)            The person must use a digital signature and associated digital certificate.

2)            The digital certificate must be issued by a Gatekeeper® accredited Certification Authority and issued in accordance with a Gatekeeper® Certificate Policy and Certificate Practice Statement.  The Certification Authority must be approved by Customs.

3)            The person must use at least one of the following four types of certificates, depending on the nature of the communicator and the communication:

a)        Type 1 – Grade 2 Individual Certificate may be used by an individual.  The digital certificate identifies that person;

b)        Type 2 – Grade 2 Non-Individual Certificate may be used by an organisation (not being an individual) without an Australian Business Number (ABN).  The digital certificate identifies the organisation and an associated individual;

c)        Type ABN-DSC Grade 2 Certificate may be used by an organisation with an ABN.  The digital certificate identifies the organisation and an associated individual;

d)        Type 3 - Device Certificate may be used by a person who communicates EDI messages to a Customs system using an application or device (software or hardware).  The digital certificate identifies the person and the application or device used.

4)            A person using a Type 3 Certificate must first obtain a Type ABN-DSC Grade 2 Certificate.

3.07 Signing an EDI transaction

Integrated Cargo System EDI communications with Customs must be digitally signed and encrypted using PKI in accordance with the Commonwealth's Gatekeeper® Strategy.  Customs expects, in accordance with the Commonwealth’s Gatekeeper® Strategy, that a person who communicates with Customs via EDI will use a Type 3 certificate.

3.08 Application of signatures in the Customs Interactive Facility

A person using the Customs Interactive facility must use a digital signature and digital certificate for online authentication in accordance with the Commonwealth's Gatekeeper® Strategy.

PART 4 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO PRODUCING DOCUMENTS TO CUSTOMS ELECTRONICALLY

1)            Where a person is required to produce a document to Customs, the document may be produced by electronic communication by sending the document to Customs as an MIME attachment to an SMTP e-mail addressed to a nominated Customs email address dedicated to the receipt of such documents.

2)            The attached document must be in a format that can be opened, viewed and printed in one of the following document standards:

a)        Microsoft Word,

b)        Microsoft Excel,

c)        HTML,

d)        PDF,

e)        Plain Text,  or

f)          JPEG

Notes to the CEO Determination No. 2 of 2010

Note 1

The CEO Determination No. 2 of 2010 (in force under section 126DA of the Customs Act 1901) as shown in this compilation is amended as indicated in the Tables below.

Table of Instruments

Table of Amendments