Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposal and Other Measures) Bill 2017 contains a number of amendments to the Customs Tariff Act 1995. These amendments will assist Australian business and consumers and will further enhance the operation of certain aspects of the act.

Firstly, the bill will incorporate Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2017 into the act, ensuring that the correct customs duty rate of 'Free' is legislated for tariff subheading 6907.30.10, which applies to certain mosaic tiles. This amendment will ensure that Australian businesses have certainty about customs duty rates applied to these goods.

Secondly, the bill will extend the concessional arrangements for imports of automotive prototypes and components. Currently, the concession provided for by item 39 in schedule 4 of the act is only available to motor vehicle manufactures. The amendments contained in this bill will extend these arrangements to include automotive service providers to support research and development by the automotive industry.

Thirdly, the bill will remove the $12,000 special customs duty on used and second-hand motor vehicles. The special duty is rarely applied as importers are able to seek an exemption under item 37 in schedule 4 of the act. The amendment will remove some of the red tape that consumers face when importing a used or second-hand motor vehicle from 1 January 2018.

Finally, the bill will make a number of amendments to improve the usability of the act. The bill will simplify the classification of certain machining centres, realign Australia's classification of the chemical paraquat dichloride with international practice and make minor formatting amendments to a number of tariff subheadings. I commend the bill to the House.

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