Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Act 1988
Civil Aviation Order 100.16 Amendment Order (No. 1) 2010
Purpose
Civil Aviation Order 100.16 Amendment Order (No. 1) 2010 (the CAO amendment), amends Civil Aviation Order 100.16 (the CAO) to bring up-to-date the reference numbers and description of a mandatory document used for the distribution of aircraft components.
Legislation
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of the Act and the safety of air navigation.
CAR 30
Under subregulation 30 (1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988), a person engaged, or intending to engage, in any stage of distribution of aircraft components or aircraft materials, may apply to CASA for a certificate of approval in respect of those activities (C of A holder).
Under subregulation 30 (3) of CAR 1988, CASA may, for the purpose of ensuring the safety of air navigation, include in a certificate of approval of a C of A holder an endorsement that the certificate is granted subject to a condition set out in a specified Part or Section of the Civil Aviation Orders.
CAO 100.16
Relevant conditions for C of A holders are set out in the CAO. The CAO is expressed to apply to any C of A holder whose certificate covers distribution of aircraft components or materials (other than fuels and oils) that are not manufactured by the C of A holder.
Under subsection 3 of the CAO, the C of A holder must not issue a release note for the use of an aircraft component unless the component is in accordance with the descriptions and specifications stated on the release note; the C of A holder considers that the component is serviceable; and the component was supplied to the C of A holder under cover of an “appropriate document”, or another document approved by CASA.
Other provisions deal similarly with the use of certain used components. A release note must not be issued for these by the C of A holder unless he or she received the used component under cover of an “appropriate document”, or another document approved by CASA. In these cases, if the “appropriate document” originated from outside Australia it must contain prescribed information, including what maintenance, modifications or reconditioning was performed on the component.
A release note must specify prescribed information, for example, its date of issue, relevant part numbers or specifications, descriptions, serial numbers, and quantities etc. An “appropriate document” is defined in Appendix 1 of the CAO in terms of a Table listing relevant countries with matching descriptions of the authenticating documents issued by those countries in respect of aircraft components that have been manufactured or distributed within those countries to appropriate standards.
For example, item 3 in the Table describes the relevant documents for Brazil as follows:
Relevant to aircraft components or materials that are Class I products — a Centro Technico Form ADH 100-12 (Export Certificate of Airworthiness).
Relevant to aircraft components or materials that are Class II or Class III products — a Centro Technico Aerospacial Form ADH 100-01B (Airworthiness Approval Tag).
The Brazilian Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil, or ANAC, has issued new “appropriate document” forms replacing the code reference “ADH” with “F”. It is necessary, therefore, to update item 3 of Appendix 1 in the CAO to reflect the correct identification of the form because unless the correct form is used, the C of A holder’s release note and distribution of a relevant aircraft component may be invalid as not being supported by the “appropriate document”.
The CAO amendment
The CAO amendment omits mention of ADH 100-12 and ADH 100-01B (Airworthiness Approval Tag) from the descriptions in item 3 of appropriate documents, and substitutes F-100-12 and F-100-01B (Authorised Release Certificate/Airworthiness Approval Tag), respectively. A typographical error (omission of the word “Aerospacial”) is also corrected.
Legislative Instrument Act
Under subsections 98 (5) and 98 (5AAA) of the Act, if the regulations provide that CASA may issue a CAO containing a direction, instruction, notification, permission, approval or authority, such a CAO is a legislative instrument. Subregulation 30 (3) of CAR 1988 provides that CASA may impose conditions on the approval of a C of A holder. CASA considers that, in the circumstances, such an imposition may be in effect a direction or instruction.
It is considered that subsections 98 (5) and 98 (5AAA) of the Act do not exhaust the scope for making CAOs. Under subsection 98 (5A) of the Act, the regulations may empower CASA to issue “instruments” in relation to matters affecting the maintenance of aircraft. Under subsection 3 (2) of the Act, maintenance is very broadly defined as, among other things, anything that affects the airworthiness of an aircraft or aeronautical product. Under subsection 98 (5AA), such an instrument expressed to apply to a class of persons, aircraft or aeronautical products is a legislative instrument.
Under these provisions, the CAO amendment is a legislative instrument and is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation
The instrument is made to update the reference numbers of Brazilian documents required for the safe distribution of aircraft components by C of A holders. Consultation under section 17 of the LIA has not been necessary for this housekeeping change.
Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR)
OBPR does not require a Regulation Impact Statement because the CAO amendment is merely technical and a preliminary assessment of business compliance costs indicates that it will have only a nil to low impact on business.
Commencement and making
The CAO amendment has been made by the Director of Aviation Safety, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 73 (2) of the Act, and commences on the day after it is registered.
[Civil Aviation Order 100.16 Amendment Order (No. 1) 2010]