EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Customs By-law No. 1134474 (replacing Customs BL 0618807)
Customs Act 1901
Section 271 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides, in part, that where an item of a Customs Tariff is expressed to apply to goods, or to a class or kind of goods, as prescribed by by-law, the Chief Executive Officer of Customs may make by-laws for the purposes of that item. A Customs Tariff is defined in section 4 of the Act to mean an Act imposing duties of customs, that is the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (the Customs Tariff Act).
Background
On 26 July 2011, the Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Harmonized System Changes) Act 2011 (the HS2012 Act) received the Royal Assent. This Act repeals, from 1 January 2012, a tariff subheading to which item 36 of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 and related existing By-law No. 0618807 refers.
Item 36 sets out a ‘Free’ rate of duty for goods, as prescribed by by-law, that are classified to certain subheadings, including subheadings 3702.32.90, 3702.39.90, 3702.44.99 and 3702.93.00. For item 36, existing By‑law No. 0618807 prescribes goods classified to subheadings 3702.32.90, 3702.39.90, 3702.44.90 and 3702.93.00 that are sensitised film, blue or orthochromatic, for certain technical uses. The HS2012 Act repeals subheading 3702.93.00 and the goods classified to this subheading are reclassified to new subheading 3702.96.90, with effect from 1 January 2012.
The HS2012 Act also amends item 36 to substitute the reference to subheading 3702.93.00 with reference to new subheading 3702.96.90, with effect from 1 January 2012.
Instrument
To take into account the changes under the HS 2012 Act, By-law No. 0618807 is revoked from 1 January 2012 by Instrument of Revocation No. 1 (2011) and replaced by new By-law No. 1134474. The new By-law substitutes the reference to subheading 3702.93.00 with reference to a new subheading 3702.96.90, but is otherwise the same as By-law No. 0618807.
Consultation
No consultation was undertaken in relation to By-law No. 1134474 as it is of a minor and machinery nature and does not substantially alter existing arrangements.
Commencement
By-law No. 1134474 takes effect from 1 January 2012.