Export Inspection (Quantity Charge) Amendment Regulations 1998 (No. 2) 1998 No. 328
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1998 NO. 328
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Export Inspection (Quantity Charge) Act 1985
Export Inspection (Quantity Charge) Amendment Regulations 1998 (No. 2)
Section 10 of the Export Inspection (Quantity Charge) Act 1985 (the Act) provides that the GovernorGeneral 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 giving effect to the Act, and, in particular, exempting a class or classes of a prescribed commodity from charge, and prescribing different rates of charge in respect of different classes of prescribed commodity.
The Export Inspection (Quantity Charge) Regulations (the Regulations) prescribe quantity charges payable by persons in whose name an export permit is issued under the Export Control Act 1982 by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). The quantity charges are part of the mix of charges agreed by industry to recover the costs of providing export inspection services.
The AQIS Export Grains Program recorded a trading surplus of $276,000 for 1997/98 despite a 20% reduction in charges for the last six months of the financial year. Since the 20% reduction was removed in July 1998, restoring the original baseline charges, the indications are that the Program will again over-recover this financial year unless the charges are reduced. The AQIS Grain Industry Consultative Working Group (AGICWG) forecast that Australia could expect to export 23 million tonnes of grain in 1998/99 which is higher than average. At its teleconference on 14 October 1998 the AGICWG agreed to the option of a 10% across the board reduction in charges.
The purpose of the Regulations is to prescribe reduced charges relating to services provided under the AQIS Export Grains Program for the remainder of the 1998/99 financial year for the inspection of bulk, bagged and containerised grain for export.
The Amendment Regulations will amend the Regulations as follows:
Clause 1 - Name of Regulations
Clause 1.1 provides for the title of the Regulations.
Clause 2 - Commencement
Clause 2.1 provides that the Regulations as amended commence on 13 January 1999.
Clause 3 - Amendment
Clause 3.1 provides that the Regulations are amended as set out in the Export Inspection (Quantity Charge) Amendment Regulations 1998 (No. 2).
Schedule 1 - (Regulation 3.1 - Rates of Change)
Item 1 substitutes the name of the Regulations.
Items 2 and 3 amends the scheduled charges.