Customs (Prohibited Exports) Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 3) 2003 No. 52
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 2003 No. 52
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs
Customs Act 1901
Customs (Prohibited Exports) Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 3)
Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed for giving effect to the Act.
Section 112 of the Act provide in part that the Governor-General may, by regulation, prohibit the exportation of goods from Australia and that the power may be exercised by prohibiting the exportation of goods absolutely or by prohibiting the exportation of goods unless specified conditions or restrictions are complied with.
The Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958 (the PE Regulations) control the exportation of the goods specified in the various regulations and the Schedules to the PE Regulations, by prohibiting exportation absolutely, or by making exportation subject to a permission or licence.
Regulations 13CE and 13CF and Schedule 14AA to the PE Regulations restricted the exportation of certain goods to Angola. These regulations and Schedule were enacted to implement Australia's obligations to impose trade sanctions against Angola under United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions 864 (1993), 1127 (1997) and 1173 (1998).
The UNSC recently adopted Resolution 1448 (2002), which terminated the sanctions imposed against Angola under Resolutions 864 (1993), 1127 (1997) and 1173 (1998).
The purpose of the amending Regulations is to give effect to the termination of the trade sanctions under UNSC Resolution 1448 (2002) by repealing regulations 13CE and 13CF and Schedule 14AA to the PE Regulations, consistent with.
The amending Regulations also removed the references to regulations 13CE and 13CF from the PE Regulations.
The amending Regulations commenced on gazettal.
Overview
The Customs (Prohibited Exports) Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 3) were enacted to address the need to update Australia's trade sanctions in accordance with changes in international obligations, specifically concerning Angola. Authorised by the Minister for Justice and Customs, these amendments respond to the termination of trade sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1448 (2002) that lifted the sanctions previously mandated by Resolutions 864 (1993), 1127 (1997) and 1173 (1998). The regulations repeal the existing provisions in the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958 that restricted the exportation of certain goods to Angola, thereby aligning Australian law with the new international consensus. The objective of this legislative amendment is to ensure that Australian trade practices remain compliant with current international mandates and to facilitate the resumption of normal trade relations with Angola.
Scope and Application
The Customs (Prohibited Exports) Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 3) pertain to the Customs Act 1901, specifically targeting the prohibition on the exportation of goods from Australia. This legislation applies to any person or entity seeking to export specified goods from Australia and is enacted to align with Australia’s international obligations under the United Nations Security Council Resolutions. These Regulations have a national scope, impacting all jurisdictions within Australia. The primary focus of these Regulations is to repeal the previous restrictions on the exportation of certain goods to Angola, which were previously governed by regulations 13CE and 13CF and Schedule 14AA to the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958. This repeal follows the termination of trade sanctions against Angola under UNSC Resolution 1448 (2002), ensuring that Australia's export control measures remain current with international developments. The Regulations remove specific restrictions previously in place and eliminate references to those restrictions within the PE Regulations, effective from the date of their gazette.
Key Provisions
The Customs (Prohibited Exports) Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 3) focus primarily on repealing certain existing regulations concerning the exportation of goods to Angola. Specifically, these amendments target Regulations 13CE and 13CF and Schedule 14AA of the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958 (PE Regulations) (section 3). These regulations had previously restricted the exportation of specified goods to Angola, a measure implemented to enforce trade sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under Resolutions 864 (1993), 1127 (1997), and 1173 (1998). With the adoption of UNSC Resolution 1448 (2002), which terminated these sanctions, the purpose of the amending Regulations is to repeal the aforementioned regulations, thus reflecting the changed international obligations (section 4).
Under the amending Regulations, any obligations that were previously imposed on entities and individuals regarding the exportation of goods to Angola are now nullified. These obligations included obtaining specific permissions or licences for the export of certain goods, as previously detailed in Regulations 13CE and 13CF and Schedule 14AA. The repeal of these regulations means that the exportation of these goods is no longer restricted or subject to any special conditions (section 3).
The amending Regulations also ensure that any references to the repealed Regulations 13CE and 13CF within the PE Regulations are removed, thereby streamlining the regulatory framework and eliminating any potential confusion or misapplication of the law (section 5). Any parties that were previously subject to these regulations should now be aware that the restrictions no longer apply.
In terms of consequences, while the amending Regulations themselves do not introduce new penalties or offences, the non-compliance with the repealed regulations prior to their repeal could have resulted in civil or criminal penalties as per the Customs Act 1901. These penalties could include fines or imprisonment for serious breaches, depending on the nature and severity of the offence. The repealing of these regulations does not retroactively absolve any past violations but serves to update the legal framework in line with current international obligations and sanctions.