Explanatory Statement
Statutory Rules 1984 No. 316
Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations (Amendment)
Issued by Authority of the Minister of State for Industry and Commerce
Earlier this year, the Government agreed to the establishment of the National Film and Sound Archive within the Department of Home Affairs and Environment. The principal function of the Archive is to be the preservation of moving images and recorded sound which forms part of Australia’s 20th century cultural heritage.
To assist the Archive in its objectives, the exportation from Australia of works embodying moving images and/or recorded sound, made within Australia or its territories more than forty years previously, is prohibited by the attached regulations unless the permission of the Minister for Home Affairs and Environment is first obtained.
The regulations effect this export control by:
(a) Regulation 1 which amends Regulation 13A of the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations by adding a new sub-regulation (1B) which
• defines movies (cinematograph films) and sound recordings in the same way as those terms are defined in the Copyright Act 1968; and
• ensures that the export control is to apply to a film or sound recording that was made in Australia, or in a place that was at that time, or has subsequently become, an External Territory of Australia.
(b) Regulation 2, which amends the Twelfth Schedule to the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations by adding a new item to the list of those goods which are prohibited exports, unless the approval of the Minister for Home Affairs and Environment (or an authorized person) to the exportation of the goods is produced to the Collector. The new item relates to:
• a copy of a cinematograph film or sound recording, made in Australia or its territories more than 40 years ago, and which at some time was published in Australia or elsewhere.