EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
CUSTOMS TARIFF (SAFEGUARD GOODS) NOTICE (No. 2) 2007
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Under section 16A of the Customs Tariff Act 1995, additional duties can be applied under the Special Agricultural Safeguard (SSG) provisions of the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) once a specified volume of imports is exceeded in a given calendar year. If the Minister publishes a notice specifying a kind of goods, and that the volume of goods of that kind so imported has been exceeded for the year, the additional duties apply to further imports of the goods in that year. Supplies en route on the basis of a contract settled before the notice is gazetted in the Commonwealth Gazette will be exempted from additional duties but the volume will be counted against next year’s special safeguard volume.
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This notice applies to safeguard goods on imports of prepared or preserved tuna from Thailand classified under subheading 1604.14.00 in Schedule 3 to the Customs Tariff Act.
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Consultations were undertaken with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Customs Service. A formal consultation process with registered industry stakeholders was undertaken in relation to section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, on the basis that this notice may have an effect on business, and submissions were received from stakeholders by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The Office of Regulation Review has advised that a Regulation Impact Statement is not mandatory because the proposal is of an administrative/non regulatory nature.
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