EXPORT MARKET DEVELOPMENT GRANTS ACT 1997
Explanatory Statement
Guidelines for forming an opinion whether an applicant is genuinely carrying on business in Australia
The Export Market Development Grants Act 1997 (the Act) provides non-discretionary grants to Australian businesses which have incurred specified expenses promoting the export of their Australian goods services, intellectual property rights, and know how. The grant is a partial reimbursement of the expenses incurred.
Paragraph 7(l)(a) of the Act requires that Austrade must be satisfied that an applicant for grao.t was, during the grant year, genuinely carrying on business in Australia.
Section 10 l of the Act requires that the minister determine written guidelines to be complied with by Austrade in forming an opinion whether an applicant is genuinely carrying on business in Australia. The guidelines are a disallow able instrument for the purposes of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
These guidelines enumerate eleven matters which must be considered by Austrade in fanning its opinion. The matters to be considered range across a number of issues and include the business intention and strategy of the applicant, the perceived commercial return of the activity, the assets of the applicant, as well as considerations related to location.