EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Customs By-law No. 1134478 (replacing Customs By-law 9840006)
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, which 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 6505.90.90 to which By-law 9840006 refers. This by-law is made for the purposes of item 40A of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act, textiles, clothing and footwear, as prescribed by the by-law.
Item 40A provides a ‘Free’ rate of duty for the above goods. For item 40A, existing By‑law No. 9840006 prescribes fabrics, weighing less than 125 grams per square metre, for use in the manufacture of headwear classified to subheading 6505.90.90. The HS2012 Act repeals subheading 6505.90.90 and the goods in this subheading are reclassified to a new subheading 6505.00.90, with effect from 1 January 2012.
Instrument
To take into account the changes under the HS2012 Act, By-law No. 9840006 is revoked from 1 January 2012 by Instrument of Revocation No. 1 (2011) and replaced by new By-law No. 1134478. The new by-law substitutes the reference to subheading 6505.90.90 with reference to new subheading 6505.00.90, but is otherwise the same as By-law No. 9840006.
Consultation
No consultation was undertaken in relation to By-law No. 1134478 as it is of a minor and machinery nature and does not alter existing arrangements.
Commencement
By-law No. 1134478 takes effect from 1 January 2012.