EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
AMENDMENT OF approved statement INSTRUMENT NO. 6 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 4(2) of the Act provides that the instrument by which a statement is approved under subsection 4A(1), 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
Paragraphs 68(1)(d) to (i) of the Act list certain classes of goods which, if imported into Australia, are not required to be entered. Goods that are included in a consignment consigned otherwise than through the post and that are all transported to Australia in the same ship or aircraft and that have a value not exceeding $250 or such other amount as is prescribed are such a class of goods(paragraph 68(1)(f) refers). For the purposes of paragraph 68(1)(f), $1,000 has been prescribed. This means that all such goods whose value does not exceed $1,000 are not required to be entered.
Section 71AAAD of the Act provides that goods of a kind referred to in paragraph 68(1)(f) are defined as “specified low value goods”. Section 71AAAF of the Act provides that the owner of specified low value goods, or a person acting on behalf of the owner, must give Customs a declaration (self-assessed clearance declaration) under section 71 containing the information that is set out in an approved statement. The self-assessed clearance declaration must also be communicated electronically and may communicated together with a cargo report.
CEO Instrument of Approval No. 4 of 2006 approved the “SELF-ASSESSED CLEARANCE DECLARATION (SEA) (TO BE COMMUNICATED WITH A CARGO REPORT)” as an approved statement for the purposes of making electronically a self-assessed clearance declaration where it is communicated together with a cargo report in relation to goods imported into Australia by sea.
Amendment of Approved Statement Instrument No. 6 of 2013 makes minor amendments to the “SELF-ASSESSED CLEARANCE DECLARATION (SEA) (TO BE COMMUNICATED WITH A CARGO REPORT)”. The previous version of the statement refers to AQIS and these references have been updated to instead refer to DAFF Biosecurity. The current statement also refers to the previous threshold amount of $250 and this has been omitted and replaced with $1,000.
Consultation
No 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 3 February 2013.
Michael Pezzullo, Acting Chief Executive Officer,
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service