EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Customs By-law No. 1700052
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 Comptroller-General 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. The Customs Tariff Act 1995 (the Customs Tariff Act) is a Customs Tariff for the purposes of the Act.
Background
Item 48 of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act provides for certain inputs into manufacture, as prescribed by by-law, that are classified under certain tariff headings and subheadings applying to chemicals, photographic film, plastics and paper, are dutiable at a rate of ‘Free’.
The Customs Tariff Amendment (2017 Harmonized System Changes) Act 2016 amended the Customs Tariff Act to repeal tariff subheading 3907.60.00 and in its place insert two new tariff subheadings, 3907.61.00 and 3907.69.00, under tariff subheading 3907.6. As a result of these amendments all of the goods previously classified to tariff subheading 3907.60.00 have been reclassified to either 3907.61.00 or 3907.69.00. The amendments commenced on 1 January 2017.
As a consequence of the amendments outlined above, the tariff headings and subheadings referenced in Item 48 of Schedule 4 were also amended to remove the reference to repealed tariff subheading 3907.60.00 and replace it with tariff subheading 3907.6.
New By-law No. 1700052 replaces previous By-law No. 1303874.
Instrument
By-law No. 1700052 prescribes uncompounded polyamides and polyesters classified under subheadings 3907.6, 3907.70.00, 3907.9 or heading 3908 in Schedule 3. The goods are to be for use in the manufacture of fibres or yarns.
A security must be lodged with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to ensure compliance with the conditions set out in the by-law.
Consultation
No consultation was undertaken in relation to By-law No. 1700052 as it does not 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
By-law No. 1700052 takes effect on and from the date that the Customs Tariff Amendment (2017 Harmonized System Changes) Act 2017 commences, that is 1 January 2017.