EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Export Control (Orders) Regulations 1982
Export Control (Eggs and Egg Products) Amendment Orders 2007 (No. 1)
Section 3 of the Export Control Act 1982 (‘the Act’) defines ‘prescribed goods’ to mean goods, or goods included in a class of goods, that are declared by the regulations to be prescribed goods for the purposes of the Act. Section 7 of the Act provides that the regulations may prohibit the export of prescribed goods from Australia absolutely or to a specified place or unless specified conditions or restrictions are complied with or to a specified place unless conditions or restrictions are complied with.
Subsection 25(1) of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed; or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or for giving effect to the Act. The matters that the regulations may make provision for include:
- under paragraph 25(2)(f) of the Act, the prescribing of penalties not exceeding 50 penalty units for offences against the regulations; and
- under paragraph 25(2)(g) of the Act, subject to subsection 25(3) of the Act, empowering the Minister to make orders, not inconsistent with the regulations, with respect to any matter for or in relation to which provision may be made by the regulations.
Subsection 25(3) of the Act states that an order shall not be made prescribing any penalty for an offence.
Regulation 3 of the Export Control (Orders) Regulations 1982 provides that the Minister may, by instrument in writing, make orders, not inconsistent with regulations made under the Act, with respect to any matter for or in relation to which provision may be made by regulations made under the Act.
The Export Control (Eggs and Egg Products) Orders 2005 (‘the Principal Orders’) regulate the export of eggs and egg products from Australia.
The purpose of the Export Control (Eggs and Egg Products) Amendment Orders 2007 (No. 1) is to make various minor amendments to the Principal Orders. These minor amendments will largely update cross references and fix typographical errors that have been identified. An amendment will also be made to Schedule 2, clause 14.1 by removing paragraph 14.1(1) (d). This removes a particular requirement that the Secretary previously needed to be satisfied about before the Secretary approves the arrangement.
No consultation has occurred as the amendments are of a minor or machinery nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.
The Amendment Orders are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Details of the Amendment Orders are set out below:
Order 1
- This order provides that the name of these amending Orders is the Export Control (Eggs and Egg Products) Amendment Orders 2007 (No. 1).
Order 2
2. This order provides that these Orders commence on the day after they are registered.
Order 3
3. This order provides that Schedule 1 amends the Export Control (Eggs and Egg Products) Orders 2005.
Schedule 1 Amendments
[1] Part 3, Division I, order 29.1, note 2
This item substitutes a new Note 2 which has the effect of removing the words ‘and registered premises’. The purpose of this amendment is to remove a term that has been repealed and is no longer consistent with the Export Control Act 1982. The definition of ‘registered premises’ in the Export Control Act 1982 was repealed by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment (Export Control and Quarantine) Act 2006 (No. 94, 2006). The removal of the definition of ‘registered premises’ from the Export Control Act 1982 was a consequence of the adoption of the expression ‘registered establishment’.
[2] Part 4, Division II, order 37, note 1
This item amends Note 1 by removing the words ‘and registered premises’. The purpose of this amendment is to remove a term that has been repealed and is no longer consistent with the Export Control Act 1982. The definition of ‘registered premises’ in the Export Control Act 1982 was repealed by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment (Export Control and Quarantine) Act 2006 (No. 94, 2006). The removal of the definition of ‘registered premises’ from the Export Control Act 1982 was a consequence of the adoption of the expression ‘registered establishment’.
[3] Schedule 2, Part 2, Division I, paragraphs 14.1 (c) and (d)
This item removes paragraph 14.1 (d) and amends paragraph 14.1 (c) by removing the word ‘and’ at the end of the paragraph and substituting the semi colon with a full stop.
The removal of paragraph 14.1 (d) has the effect of removing a requirement that the Secretary must be satisfied of before he or she can approve the arrangement. The effect of this removal is that persons designated in the approved arrangement as a person who may make a declaration referred to in paragraph 6.1 (g) or 6.1 (h) of Schedule 8 or paragraph 3.1 (a) of Schedule 9 are no longer required to be fit and proper persons.
This amendment is necessary to allow establishments to continue export operations immediately following staffing changes. Currently, when a staff member designated in the approved arrangement as a person who may make a declaration referred to in paragraph 6.1 (g) or 6.1 (h) of Schedule 8 or paragraph 3.1 (a) of Schedule 9 ceases employment with an establishment, that establishment may not be able to continue its export operations until a replacement staff member has been determined to be a fit and proper person. The effect of this can be an immediate stop to an establishment’s export operations for several weeks. The removal of paragraph 14.1 (d) will allow such staffing changes to not adversely affect an establishment’s continued export operations.
Paragraph 16.5 (d) of Schedule 9 requires that the Secretary be satisfied that an applicant be a fit and proper person prior to approval being granted to issue export permits. This requirement ensures that the integrity of Australia’s export certification system is maintained following the removal of paragraph 14.1(d) of Schedule 2.
[4] Schedule 4, Part 1, Division II, clause 15.1, note 3
This item substitutes a new Note 3 to clause 15.1 which has the effect of inserting an updated web reference to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines were updated in 2004 and this new web reference is to the revised guidelines.
[5] Schedule 4, Part 1, Division II, clause 16, heading
This amends the heading to clause 16 by replacing the word ‘non potable’ with ‘non-potable’. The purpose of this amendment is to reflect a consistent use of the hyphen in ‘non-potable’ in the Principal Orders.
[6] Schedule 4, Part 1, Division II, clause 16.2
This item amends clause 16.2 by replacing the word ‘non potable’ with ‘non-potable’. The purpose of this amendment is to reflect a consistent use of the hyphen in ‘non-potable’ in the Principal Orders. This item also amends a grammatical error in clause 16.2 by removing the word ‘and’ and restructuring the sentence to clarify the intended meaning of the clause.
[7] Schedule 5, Part 4, clause 23.2
This item amends a grammatical error in clause 23.2 by inserting ‘and’ after ‘labels’, and before ‘other materials used:’ This item also removes the comma after ‘labels’.
[8] Schedule 7, Part 2, Division I, paragraph 4.1 (e)
This item amends a grammatical error in paragraph 4.1 (e) by adding the letter ‘s’ to the end of ‘product’.
[9] Schedule 8, Part 2, paragraph 4.1 (a)
This item removes the word ‘for’ after ‘products’. The word is unnecessary and its removal will clarify the intended meaning of the paragraph.
[10] Schedule 9, Part 1, Division IV, paragraph 13.4 (a)
This item clarifies paragraph 13.4 (a) by inserting the word ‘export’ in front of ‘permit’ to make it clear that the reference is only to an export permit.
[11] Schedule 9, Part 2, clause 24.3
This item amends a grammatical error in clause 24.3 by removing the word ‘food’. The word is unnecessary and removing it will clarify the intended meaning of the clause.
[12] Schedule 10, Part 1, Division III, paragraph 11.1(a)
This item amends a typographical error in paragraph 11.1 (a) by removing the first occurrence of the word ‘to’. The amendment clarifies the intended meaning of the clause.