EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1983 No. 174
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Primary Industry
DAIRY PRODUCTS (EXPORT INSPECTION CHARGE) ACT 1982
DAIRY PRODUCTS (EXPORT INSPECTION CHARGE) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
The Dairy Products (Export Inspection Charge) Act 1982 provides for the Governor-General to make regulations for the purpose of imposing a charge on dairy products inspected for export. The Act provides that regulations may prescribe different rates of charge for different classes of dairy products provided they do not exceed the maximum rate of charge set in the Act. Currently, the maximum rate of charge allowable is $5.00 per tonne.
The Dairy Products (Export Inspection Charge) Regulations prescribe the operative rates of charge applicable to 7 classes of dairy products inspected for export. The operative charges first came into effect on 1 January 1983.
The proposed dairy products export inspection charges have been determined with a view to achieving 50% recovery of costs incurred during the remainder of 1983/84, in line with Government policy. The proposed new rates reflect the costs of inspecting the various classes of dairy products and are based on expected exports and inspection costs in the 1983/84 financial year. If charges continued at the current levels for the full year it is estimated that only 40% of dairy export inspection costs would be recouped.
The current charges and proposed new charges are as follows:
Class of Dairy Products | Current Charge ($/tonne) | Proposed Charge ($/tonne) |
Butter packed in bulk or pat form | 2.50 | 2.05 |
Butter packed otherwise than in bulk or pat form | 1.00 | 0.82 |
Butter fat products other than butter | 1.00 | 1.22 |
Cheese packed in bulk | 2.50 | 2.35 |
Cheese packed other than in bulk | 1.00 | 2.35 |
Concentrated, condensed and dried milk | 0.50 | 0.96 |
All other dairy products | 1.00 | 3.50 |
The decreased charges proposed for butter are directly a result of a significant increase expected in butter exports during 1983/84 which has spread the costs of inspection over a larger quantity of product. The bulk of inspection costs are for Commonwealth inspectors salaries. Inspection is done on a monitoring basis irrespective of throughput. Additionally, for cheese the inspection process has been found to be identical whether the cheese is bulk or packed. This has led to a reduced charge for bulk cheese and an increased charge for packed cheese.
The proposed regulation replaces the Schedule to the Dairy Products (Export Inspection Charge) Regulations to enable implementation of the revised export inspection charges. The revised charges are to come into effect from 1 October 1983.