EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Regulator
Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Act 2012
Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Instrument 2013 (No.2)
The Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 requires models of products that are covered by a Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Determination to be registered and provides offences for supply or commercial use of GEMS products that are not registered. A person may apply for registration under section 41 of the Act. Registration ensures that the GEMS Regulator can identify which products are being sold in Australia, to assist monitoring of compliance with the Act and ascertain trends in product energy efficiency.
Section 8 of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Act 2012 permits the GEMS Regulator to specify fees, by legislative instrument, which must be paid when a person applies to register a product under section 41 of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012.
Registration fees will assist the GEMS Regulator to recover a portion of the costs incurred in registering products under, and to monitor compliance with, the GEMS legislation. Cost recovery will assist the GEMS Regulator to deliver improved registration and compliance monitoring services, for the benefit of regulated Australian businesses and the Australian public.
The requirements to register products, and pay registration fees, established under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 are consistent with the historical practices of the twenty-year old Equipment Energy Efficiency Program.
The Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Instrument 2013 (No.2) specifies the fees for each regulated product class that must be paid when a person applies to register a model of a regulated product.
Consultation
The Australian Government conducted extensive consultation with Australian businesses throughout the development of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012, as well as consulting with the governments of New Zealand and Australian states and territories, all of which participate in the twenty-year old E3 Program.
Consultation specifically addressed registration fees to recover registration and compliance monitoring costs. Australian businesses provided strong support for fees to recover these costs on the understanding that it would assist the GEMS Regulator to improve registration and compliance monitoring services.
Authority: Section 8 of the
Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Act 2012
Detailed description of provisions in the Instrument
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Name of instrument
Section 1 establishes the title of the instrument as the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Instrument 2013 (No.2).
2 Commencement
Section 2 sets out the commencement arrangements for the instrument, which commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
3 Revocation
Section 3 revokes the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Instrument 2013 (No.1) (F2013L00570).
4 Object
Section 4 sets out the object of the instrument, which is to specify registration fees payable when a person applies to register a product under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012.
5 Interpretation
Section 5 clarifies that any terms in the instrument that are defined in the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 or the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Act 2012 have the same meaning, unless otherwise specified.
Part 2 Fees
6 Fees
Consistent with paragraph 9(1) (a) of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Act 2012, the instrument specifies the amount for each registration fee.
Section 6 specifies fees in a Schedule to the instrument. The table in the Schedule lists four fee bands (Column 1), sets the amount of the fee for each fee band (Column 2) and specifies which of the fee bands (listed in Column 1) apply to applications to register products against the relevant GEMS Determination (listed in Column 3).
The GEMS Determination listed at item 17 was not an existing GEMS Determination at the time this instrument commenced, but has been proposed to be made. This item was included in this instrument in order that fees are specified if and when the proposed determination is made. If made, the proposed determination will include additional product classes to those currently covered by the GEMS Determination listed at item 16. Until such time as the proposed determination is made, the products covered by those additional product classes are not required to be registered under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 and no fees are therefore payable.
The amount of the fee for each product type was calculated with reference to identified costs of registration staff and the registration system, as well as costs incurred in the inspection and monitoring program such as purchasing and testing equipment. Relevant costs may be reassessed periodically throughout the life of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 to ensure that fees represent an appropriate level of cost recovery.