EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Customs By-law No. 1800146
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 an Act imposing duties of customs, and is therefore a Customs Tariff for the purposes of the Act.
Section 18 of the Customs Tariff Act provides for calculation of concessional duty.
Background
For the purposes of Item 1 paragraph (a) to Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act, goods, as prescribed by by-law, that are scientific instruments or apparatus, to which Annex D to the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials Agreement or Annex D to the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials Protocol applies, are dutiable at the rate of “Free”.
Instrument
By-law No. 1800146 revokes and remakes previous by-law No. 1339704. By-law No. 1800146 prescribes goods, consigned to the organisations and institutions listed within the by-law, being:
a) scientific instruments or apparatus;
b) spare parts, components or accessories specially designed for use with the scientific instruments or apparatus; and
c) tools specially designed and intended to assist in the maintenance, checking, gauging or repair of the scientific instruments or apparatus.
By-law No. 1800146 removes the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) from the listed institutions and organisations in Table A. The AAO was abolished from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science by the Australian Astronomical Observatory (Transitional) Act 2018. By-Law No. 1800146 makes a consequential amendment to remove the abolished organisation from Table A.
By-law No. 1800146 updates the names of several of the organisations and institutions listed in Table A. These changes reflect changes to the names of these organisations and institutions that have occurred since the By-law was last updated.
By-law No. 1800146 also removes the reference to the States Grants (School Assistance) Act 1984, as it was repealed in 1999 and replaces that Act with a reference to the Australian Education Act 2013. By-law No. 1800146 for the purposes of paragraph (a) of Item 1 of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act prescribes scientific instruments or apparatus consigned to schools indirectly or directly funded under the Australian Education Act 2013.
Consultation
Consultation was undertaken with the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science in relation to the changes made to By-law No.1800146.
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. 1800146 commences from 20 July 2018.