Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Stirling, who did his best to make this bill Dickensian, Austenian or Shakespearean. I thank him for speaking on the bill. The Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals) Bill will amend schedule 4 of the customs tariff. Schedule 4 delivers a wide range of tariff concessions which have the effect of reducing or removing the normal rate of customs duty that would otherwise apply for imported goods.

Following a review of the schedule by the Better Regulation Ministerial Partnership, the Customs Tariff Amendment (Schedule 4) Act 2012 was passed by the parliament in 2012. This act sought to simplify the schedule and to consolidate items with similar coverage. Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2013, tabled in the House of Representatives during February 2013, gave effect to minor amendments to five items: 20, 21, 27, 30 and 35 in the revised Schedule 4. These amendments were necessary to ensure that the scope and duty rates of the concessional items were preserved. The Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals) Bill 2013 will formally incorporate these amendments into the Customs Tariff Act. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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