EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CUSTOMS ACT 1901
CUSTOMS (PROHIBITED EXPORTS) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
STATUTORY RULES 1990
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY AND COMMERCE
Section 112 of the Customs Act 1901 provides in part that:
“1) The Governor-General may, by regulation, prohibit the exportation of goods from Australia.
2) The power conferred by the last preceding sub-section may be exercised - … (b) by prohibiting the exportation of goods to a specified place; or (c) by prohibiting the exportation of goods unless specified conditions or restrictions are complied with.
2A) Without limiting the generality of paragraph (2) (c), the Regulations - … (a) may provide that the exportation of the goods is prohibited unless a licence, permission, consent or approval to import the goods or a class of goods in which the goods are included has been granted as prescribed by the regulations; and …”
The Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations (the Regulations) control the exportation of the goods specified in the various Regulations or the Schedules to the Regulations, by prohibiting exportation absolutely, or making exportation subject to the permission of a specified person or Minister of State.
The Statutory Rules amend the Regulations to impose trade sanctions against Iraq and Kuwait following the Government’s announcement on 6 August of its acceptance of the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution calling upon member states to immediately implement sanction measures against both countries.
The exportation from Australia of;
any goods to Iraq or Kuwait, or
any goods to a country other than Iraq or Kuwait which are of Iraqi or Kuwaiti origin, or
any goods which the Minister certifies that he or she has reasonable grounds for believing are of Iraqi or Kuwaiti origin, or which the Minister certifies that he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that the ultimate destination of the goods is Iraq or Kuwait,
will be prohibited unless the permission in writing of the Minister or an authorised person to export the goods has been granted and is produced to a Collector of the Australian Customs Service.
The prohibition regime allows exceptions via Ministerial permission (which is the standard export and import control regime), which will accommodate the special case situations for trade with both countries; eg. the humanitarian exemption noted in the United nations Resolution, for instance.
(S.R./SO)