EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Tariff Concessions Revocation Instrument 61/2011
Customs Act 1901
Background
Part XVA of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) sets out a scheme under which Tariff Concession Orders (TCOs) may be made and revoked by the Chief Executive Officer of Customs (the CEO). A lower rate of customs duty applies to goods that are the subject of a TCO.
Under sections 269C and 269P of the Act, a TCO will be made if the application for the TCO meets the core criteria, that is, on the day on which the application was lodged, no substitutable goods were produced in Australia in the ordinary course of business.
Section 269SB of the Act provides, in part, that a person claiming to be a producer in Australia of substitutable goods in relation to the goods covered by a TCO may request the CEO to revoke the TCO.
Under subsections 269SC(1) and (3) of the Act, the CEO must make an order revoking the TCO if the CEO is satisfied:
− that, on the day of lodgement of the request, the person requesting the revocation of the TCO is a producer in Australia of goods that are substitutable goods in relation to the goods the subject of the TCO; and
− that, if the TCO were not in force on that day but that day were the day on which the application for that TCO was lodged, the CEO would not have made the TCO.
Gainsborough Hardware Industries Limited requested that the CEO revoke TCO 1038858 which covers door furniture sets.
Instrument
Tariff Concessions Revocation Instrument No 61/2011 was made on 20 January 2011. It revokes TCO 1038858 as the CEO is satisfied that Gainsborough Hardware Industries Limited is a producer in Australia of substitutable goods and that the CEO would not have made the TCO.
Consultation
Subsection 269SC(1A) of the Act provides that as soon as practicable after receiving a request for revocation of a TCO, the CEO must publish in a Gazette a notice which includes a statement that a request has been lodged and the full particulars of the TCO to which the request relates.
Commencement
Subsection 269SC(6) provides that an order revoking a TCO comes into force on the day on which the request to revoke the TCO was lodged. Subsection 239SD(8) provides, in part, that subsection 269SC(6) has effect despite section 12 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. Section 12 prohibits the making of certain retrospective legislative instruments.
Tariff Concessions Revocation Instrument No.61/2011, TCO 1038858, was revoked on 20 January 2011 with the Revocation date of effect as from 24 November 2010.
Overview
The Tariff Concessions Revocation Instrument No. 61/2011 was enacted to address the revocation of Tariff Concession Order (TCO) 1038858, which applied to door furniture sets. This instrument was made under the Customs Act 1901, which allows the Chief Executive Officer of Customs to revoke TCOs when certain conditions are met. Specifically, section 269SB of the Act allows a producer of substitutable goods in Australia to request the revocation of a TCO if, on the day the request is lodged, the CEO would not have made the TCO. In this instance, Gainsborough Hardware Industries Limited successfully requested the revocation of TCO 1038858, leading to its revocation on 20 January 2011, effective from 24 November 2010. This revocation was a response to the producer's claim that they were now capable of producing the substitutable goods domestically, thereby addressing the gap in domestic production that initially justified the tariff concession.
Scope and Application
The Tariff Concessions Revocation Instrument 61/2011, made under the Customs Act 1901, specifically revokes Tariff Concession Order (TCO) 1038858, which previously applied to door furniture sets. This revocation was enacted following a request by Gainsborough Hardware Industries Limited, who demonstrated their capacity as a producer of substitutable goods in Australia. The Chief Executive Officer of Customs (CEO) was required to make an order revoking TCO 1038858 if satisfied that Gainsborough Hardware Industries Limited is indeed a producer of such goods, and that if the TCO had not been in force, it would not have been granted in the first place. The revocation is effective from 24 November 2010, as per the date specified in the Instrument. This revocation applies nationally and is subject to the broader framework set by the Customs Act 1901, which governs the creation and revocation of tariff concession orders in Australia. The Act applies to all entities involved in the production or importation of goods, ensuring that the customs duty concessions are granted only when no substitutable goods are produced domestically.
Key Provisions
The Tariff Concessions Revocation Instrument 61/2011, made under the Customs Act 1901, revokes Tariff Concession Order (TCO) 1038858, which was related to door furniture sets. The primary operative sections in this context are sections 269SB, 269SC, and 269SD of the Customs Act 1901 (referred to as the Act). Section 269SB allows a person who claims to be a producer in Australia of substitutable goods to request the Chief Executive Officer of Customs (CEO) to revoke a TCO. Under section 269SC, the CEO must revoke the TCO if satisfied that the requesting person is indeed a producer of substitutable goods and that the CEO would not have made the TCO if the revocation request were to be treated as the original application date. Section 269SD sets the effective date of the revocation to be the date the request was lodged, regardless of any legislative restrictions on retrospective instruments.
The Act imposes specific obligations on the CEO in relation to the revocation of TCOs. Under section 269SC(1), the CEO must ensure that the person requesting the revocation is genuinely a producer of substitutable goods and that this was not the case on the date the TCO was initially applied for. Additionally, the CEO must publish a notice in a Gazette as soon as practicable after receiving a revocation request, as stipulated in subsection 269SC(1A). This notice must include a statement that a revocation request has been lodged and must provide full particulars of the TCO in question.
Failure to comply with the requirements of the Customs Act 1901 regarding the revocation of TCOs may result in legal consequences. While the explanatory statement does not explicitly outline offences, penalties, or specific civil or criminal consequences for non-compliance, breaches of the Act's provisions could potentially lead to legal actions. The penalties for such breaches would depend on the specific nature of the contravention and could include fines, imprisonment, or other sanctions as prescribed by the relevant legislation. However, it is essential to note that the exact penalties are not detailed within the scope of the Tariff Concessions Revocation Instrument 61/2011 itself.