EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CUSTOMS ACT 1901
CUSTOMS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
STATUTORY RULES 1990 No 248
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SMALL BUSINESS AND CUSTOMS
Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that “The Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with this Act prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or as may be necessary or convenient to be prescribed for giving effect to this Act or for the conduct of any business relating to the Customs…”
Regulation 185 of the Customs Regulations (the Regulations) provides that “For the purposes of subsection 269D(1) of the Act, the particular goods in respect of which a concession order shall not be made are goods classified under a heading or subheading referred to in Column 2 of an item in Schedule 2 other than any goods described in Column 3 of that item in that Schedule.”
The Statutory Rules contain several amendments to Schedule 2 to the Regulations which:
i) correct an anomaly that occurred as a result of the translation of the previous Schedule due to harmonisation of the tariff; and
ii) provide for a minor technical amendment.
Background
i) Correction of the anomaly due to Tariff Harmonisation
Prior to tariff harmonisation on 1 January 1988, lubricating or conditioning solutions or tablets for artificial eyes or contact lenses were eligible for consideration for duty-free importation via a Tariff Concession Order (TCO). As a result of tariff harmonisation however, these goods fell to Heading 3307 and were inadvertently placed in Schedule 2 to the Regulations which resulted in their being ineligible for consideration for a TCO. Subregulation 3.1 of the Statutory Rules amends item 8 of Schedule 2 to maintain the previous eligibility of lubricating or conditioning solutions or tablets for a TCO. Regulation 1 of the Statutory Rules provides that the commencement of subregulation 3.1 is to be 1 January 1988, to effectively validate TCOs that have been made since that date in respect of these products.
The retrospective commencement of subregulation 3.1 of the Statutory Rules does not offend subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, as the validation of existing TCOs in respect of these products effectively confers a benefit upon the respective importers.
ii) Minor technical amendment
Customs Tariff Proposal No. 13 of 1989, which took effect from 1 March 1989, altered Schedule 3 to the Customs Tariff Act 1987 by omitting 3926.20.20 as a sub-heading and replacing it with 3926.20.2. Subregulation 3.2 of the Statutory Rules amends item 9 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations to align it with this alteration. It has not been necessary in this instance however, to backdate the proposed amendment to 1 March 1989, as there have not been any TCOs made in respect of this item which necessitate retrospective validation.
(S.R. S*/go)