Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals) Bill 2018 contains a number of amendments to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to assist Australian businesses and consumers and further enhance the operation of the act.

Firstly, the bill will make amendments consistent with Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2018, providing a 'free' rate of duty for imports of Indonesian insecticides and herbicides under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. This proposal implements an early outcome of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that commenced on 20 September 2017 as announced by my colleague, the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo. This early outcome benefits Australian businesses and farmers by reducing their costs and improving access to the Indonesian market for Australian sugar exporters. It both reduces the cost of insecticides and pesticides for Australia's farmers, adding important margin to their businesses, enabling them to make further investments in their farms, in their businesses, but at the same giving greater access for Australian sugar producers into the Indonesian market, a large and fast-growing market for sugar.

Secondly, the bill will make amendments consistent with Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) 2018, which will remove the duty payable on eligible blinded clinical trial kits and placebos imported for use in clinical trials. This measure was announced in the 2018-19 budget and complements the government's efforts on making Australia an attractive destination for international clinical trials. The measure makes the importation of these goods into Australia cheaper through the removal of customs duty while also simplifying the import process and reducing red tape.

Finally, the bill will make a technical amendment to schedule 12 which covers the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. This amendment removes a redundant item from the schedule, realigning it with the other schedules to the Customs Tariff Act.

In combination, this bill provides further support for the government's strong focus on reducing red tape, finding access to new markets and reducing costs for Australian businesses in everything they do. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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