Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals) Bill 2009 will amend the Customs Tariff Act 1995, thus incorporating measures that were contained in the three customs tariff proposals tabled earlier this year. They are Customs Tariff Proposals (No. 1) 2009, (No. 2) 2009 and (No. 4) 2009. These amendments give effect to Australia’s international obligations regarding the duty-free entry into Australia of certain goods and to appropriate increases of customs duty.

The way the system works, as I deduced from my reading of the bill, the explanatory memorandum and the Minister for Home Affairs’ second reading speech, is that the customs tariff regime of proposals, duties and other measures arising is first tabled in the House and given immediate applicability; that is, it is given the protection that the legislation which follows later has. It gives effect but within a certain time frame the legislation has to be introduced—it appears to be 12 months. A specific amending bill needs to be passed to complete all legislative requirements. This of course can, prima facie, raise the issue of giving effect retrospectively but it is not retrospective in the sense that this is more by way of a procedural operation because of the overall system and not a matter of substance, and it thereby does not vitiate the rule of law that prohibits retrospectivity. Such a scheme enables the customs tariff regime to be responsive to policy changes and calibrations and does so in this very practical way. Those officers who implement the scheme are given the necessary protections while the proposals are operative, which is essential.

Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) was tabled in the House on 11 February 2009 and created a new concessional item 41H. This item provides duty-free entry into Australia for goods for use in the testing, quality control, manufacturing evaluation or engineering development of motor vehicles designed or engineered in Australia but not necessarily manufactured in Australia. The item will encourage automotive manufacturers to undertake design and engineering work for the international automotive market and will reduce administrative costs in importing such equipment. Anything that can help to reduce administrative costs has to be a good thing for business and a good thing for research and development.

Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) 2009 was tabled in the House of Representatives on 25 February 2009. Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) increased rates of customs duty for certain alcohol and tobacco products applicable to goods imported under the Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement. The Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Act 2008 gave effect to the Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement but did not take into account the subsequent alterations to the customs tariff as a result of the February 2009 CPI increases and increased duty for certain spirit based alcoholic beverages known as alcopops—a matter we have debated at length in this place.

Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 4) 2009 was tabled in the House of Representatives on 16 September 2009. Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 4) increased rates of customs duty for certain beer and grape wine products as a consequence of the August 2009 CPI increases. We needed Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) and Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 4) so that there would not be loss of government revenue and discrepancies between imported and domestically manufactured alcohol and tobacco products.

In closing, I can say that the successful passage of this bill would enable the amended duty rates to be incorporated into the customs tariff prior to February 2010 and provide the certainty that is required for importers. That is an important thing. We have to have that certainty. It is an exacting business, importing and exporting, and all the importers and exporters that I talk to always mention certainty. A lot of them also talk about having a single window. If you have a look, Madam Deputy Speaker, at what has to be navigated in the whole area of import and export, you will see that it is quite an exacting business, with all the things that have to be done. Through my work as Chair of the Trade Subcommittee of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I get to meet a lot of exporters and importers—all the various groups—so I have had extensive conversations with people who are doing this. Anything that we can do to bring further certainty to that area is welcome.

I welcome this amending bill for the reasons that I have outlined—that it brings certainty, it gives legislative effect to the proposals that were tabled in the House earlier this year and it makes sure that the customs officers who implement those proposals are given the legislative certainty that is required within that particular time frame. With those comments, I commend the bill to the House.

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