EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1982 NO. 404
CUSTOMS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Issued by the Authority of the Minister of State for the Capital Territory Acting for and on behalf of the Minister of State for Industry and Commerce.
Regulations 50 and 52 of the Customs Regulations, for the purposes of section 85 of the Act, set out fees that are payable by a licensee for a warehouse.
The Regulations seek to amend existing regulations 50 and 52 to increase the fees for warehouse licences and update these provisions as a consequence of amendments made to the Act by the Customs Amendment Act (No. 3) 1980.
Details of the Regulations are set out below:
Regulation 1 provides for a commencement date of 1 January 1983.
Regulation 2 repeals existing regulation 50 and substitutes a new regulation which has been drafted to accord with the new provisions in the Principal Act.
Sub-regulation 50(1) provides that for the purposes of the regulations the term “warehouse licence” referred to in the regulations shall have the same meaning as that term has in Part V of the Act and further provides that the term “year” means a period of twelve months commencing on a 1 July.
Sub-regulation 50(2) imposes an annual licence fee of $1900, an increase of $600 over the existing fee. This new fee will apply in respect of all licenses granted on 1 July in any year; a pro rata proportion of that amount will apply where the licence is granted for a period of less than 12 months, including the period 1 January 1983 to 30 June 1983 which is the initial period under the new fee.
Sub-regulations 50(3) and (4) provide for the annual licence fee to be paid by instalments on the first days of July, October, January and April in that year.
Regulation 3 remakes regulation 52 of the regulations to:
(i) provide for a transaction fee of $7 to be payable -
this fee is to be payable in respect of transactions involving the movement of goods out of a warehouse to which a warehouse licence relates such as the passing of an entry for home consumption in respect of dutiable goods warehoused in the warehouse or the lodging of documents detailing deliveries for home consumption. The previous transaction fee was $5.
(ii) provide that the transaction fee will be payable on a three monthly periodical basis in lieu of the previous monthly basis -
this change brings the billing and the payment times into line with the periods for payment of the annual fees where a licence holder chooses to pay by instalments. The change will reduce Departmental administrative costs and will not adversely affect licence holders.
(iii) repeal sub-regulation 52(3) as the provisions contained in that sub-regulation are now redundant.
(iv) update the reference to home consumption in sub-regulation 52(4) so that that reference now conforms with the Act as amended
(v) redraft sub-regulation 52(5) to provide that where 2 or more documents are lodged at the one time the lodging of those documents shall be treated as one transaction for the purposes of the transaction fee.
(vi) redraft sub-regulation 52(6) to provide for the term “warehouse licence” to have the same meaning as the Act; and
(vii) omit the now redundant sub-regulation 52(7)
Regulation 4 is a formal saving provision.
The effect of sub-regulation 4(1) is that the fees to be imposed by regulation 50 will apply to new licences granted on or after 1 January 1983, to licences renewed on 1 July 1983. and to subsequent renewals. The effect of sub-regulation 4(2) is that the fees to be imposed by regulation 52 will apply to the passing of entries for home consumption on or after 1 January 1983 and to the lodging of documents on and after that date.