EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

AMENDMENT OF approved statement INSTRUMENT NO. 1 OF 2013

Customs Act 1901

Subsection 4A(1A) of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) defines an approved statement as a statement that is approved, by instrument in writing, by the Chief Executive Officer of Customs (the CEO). Subsection 4A(2) of the Act provides that the instrument by which a statement is approved, is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.  Under paragraph 6(d) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, approved statements are legislative instruments.

Background

Section 64AB of the Act requires a cargo report to be provided in relation to a ship or aircraft on a voyage or flight to Australia from a place outside Australia.  Subsection 64AB(4B) provides that an electronic cargo report must communicate such information as is set out in an approved statement.

CEO Instrument of Approval No. 2 of 2006 approved the “CARGO REPORT (AIR)” as an approved statement for the purposes of communicating electronically a cargo report in relation to an aircraft in accordance with section 64AB of the Act.  This report consists of 38 separate fields of information which a cargo reporter is required to provide to Customs and Border Protection.

Recently, the Conference of Asia Pacific Air Couriers (CAPEC) requested the addition of a new field to the cargo report for goods imported into Australia by air, and other Customs and Border Protection instruments.  This new field will also be added to this cargo report and the import declaration, the warehouse declaration and self-assessed clearance documents (SACs).

This new field number 39 in the “CARGO REPORT (AIR)”, entitled Consignment Reference, contains a reference assigned by a cargo reporter that, in combination with a House Air Waybill number, will identify cargo of a particular consignment.  This will assist with the reporting and clearance of part shipments that occur when a single air cargo consignment unintentionally arrives over two or more flights.  This reference will enable the Integrated Cargo System (the ICS) to link an import declaration to cargo reports that use the same House Air Waybill number but different Master Air Waybill numbers.

Amendment of Approved Statement Instrument No. 1 of 2013 makes the above amendments to the “SELF-ASSESSED CLEARANCE DECLARATION (AIR) (TO BE COMMUNICATED WITH A CARGO REPORT)”. 

Consultation

The Conference of Asia Pacific Air Couriers was consulted in the preparation of this instrument.  No additional consultation was undertaken under section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 before this instrument was made as it is of a minor or machinery nature and does not substantially alter existing arrangements.

Human Rights Implications

This by-law does not engage, impact on, or limit in any way, the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in the definition of human rights at section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Commencement

The instrument commences on the 3 February 2013.

Michael Pezzullo, Acting Chief Executive Officer,

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service