Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Customs Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021. Australia has a long and proud history of trade and trade agreements with other nations. It has built our nation since before Federation. In fact, from at least 1700 to 1907, fishermen sailed each year from Indonesia to the Arnhem Land coast and traded with our Indigenous peoples for sea cucumber, which they boiled down, dried on their boats and traded with other nations. Then there was early whaling, followed by the export boom off the sheep's back, the gold rush of the 1850s and our enduring trade partnership with the UK, which we now return to as our closest allied partner, along with the United States.

I've been listening to those opposite, particularly the member for Melbourne, who has been talking about trade and highlighting the ineptitude of those opposite, who simply don't get it and who simply don't understand the value of trade to our nation. Free trade agreements, FTAs, help boost the economy and jobs growth in Australia and deliver new job opportunities to SMEs and big business through greater trade and investment. FTAs give Australian businesses and consumers improved access to a wider range of competitively priced goods and services, new technologies and innovative practices. They promote regional economic integration and build shared approaches to trade and investment between our nation and our trading partners.

We've heard much recently about the trade agreements currently being negotiated by the minister with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and India. I congratulate him on his work, which is so important to Australian businesses and families, especially in my electorate of Moncrieff on the Gold Coast. So many family businesses in my electorate engage in international trade. The amendments I will outline shortly are crucial for their domestic and global competitiveness when it comes to exporting and importing.

While I am briefly speaking of the minister I take this opportunity to thank him for the work he did on the Morrison government's $1.2 billion tourism package and half-price airfares that are still in the system. He listened to the tourism industry and delivered what they needed during this pandemic. Australians will be pleased to know that they can once again holiday on the Gold Coast in time for Christmas. Now is the time to rebook those airfares—and around 100,000 have been on hold while the Queensland government has had the borders closed over these past months, making it so difficult for Gold Coast businesses and tourism to bounce back. It has taken a $1 billion hit—$1 billion over the last quarter out of a $6 billion a year industry. I thank the minister for the most recent tranche of support measures—the $600 million 50-50 Commonwealth and state tourism and business hardship package that assisted so many Gold Coast businesses to get them through to Christmas, when borders will reopen and when vaccination rates will be at 80 per cent.

Just this week we saw the Queensland Premier finally come to her senses—use common sense—look at the national plan and agree to it. I'm very pleased that Gold Coast businesses now have a light at the end of a very long dark tunnel. They can at least plan—hopefully, with certainty—for an increased volume of customers from the southern states. Families can be reunited and Queenslanders can return home, all safely in accordance with that national plan.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, commonly referred to as RCEP, is a modern free trade agreement between Australia and 14 other nations in the Indo-Pacific. It complements and builds upon the established free trade agreements we have with nations in our region. While RCEP covers all areas of a modern free trade agreement, the proposed legislative amendments to the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995 implement only the trade-in-goods commitments Australia has made under RCEP.

The proposed amendments will facilitate trade between Australia and the 14 other nations that are party to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The amendments provide the product specific rules, the PSRs, for determining if imported goods are RCEP-originating goods. These goods are produced, obtained or include sufficient content from one or more of the RCEP parties. Satisfying these rules qualifies the goods for a lower rate of customs duty when imported into Australia, which translates at the end of the day to lower prices for the importer and, of course, ultimately the consumer. The changes will require Australian exporters and producers to keep sufficient records to enable them to prove, when necessary, that their goods are RCEP-originating goods if they claim a preferential rate of customs duty when they're exporting their goods to one of the other 14 RCEP parties. The amendments seek to create a new schedule of preferential customs duty rates for goods that qualify as RCEP-originating goods. The new rules for determining originating status of goods and record-keeping requirements for exporters and producers will be added to the Customs Act 1901, and the new schedule of preferential customs duty rates will be added to the Customs Tariff Act 1995.

I will briefly outline the changes to the Customs Act 1901 and then the details of changes to the Customs Tariff Act 1995. For those who might be at home listening or who might even be in the car travelling in the country listening to ABC radio, a shout-out to all of you out there. The act will be amended to insert rules for determining if imported goods are RCEP-originating goods. When these rules are satisfied, importers—largely distributors or wholesalers—gain a preferential rate of customs duty when products are imported into Australia. These rules are similar to those used in all of Australia's recent free trade agreements, so it's a matter of updating. The rules, including the PSRs, will be implemented in the same way as they have been for all free trade agreements that use PSRs. The changes to record-keeping requirements that I mentioned pertain to the Customs Act 1901. These obligations will make it possible for RCEP parties to determine the validity of claims made by Australian exporters and producers. Other RCEP parties will also impose reciprocal obligations on their exporters and producers that would allow Australia to undertake compliance activity if, and when, required.

In terms of the Customs Tariff Act 1995, the main amendment will be to insert a new schedule of preferential rates of customs duty for eligible goods that are determined to be RCEP-originating goods. This schedule reflects the commitments that Australia made during these negotiations. Each other RCEP party will have their own schedule that reflects the commitments they made during those negotiations. All of these schedules will be different. For a significant number of goods, customs duty rates will be eliminated when RCEP comes into force. The remaining customs duty rates on most other goods will be progressively reduced over 19 calendar years after the year that RCEP comes into force for Australia. A small minority of goods will not have their duty rates eliminated under RCEP, and customs duties on excise-equivalent goods will also be maintained to ensure consistent treatment with domestically produced equivalents. It's important to note that there is actually no cost associated with making these changes that will benefit Australian importers and exporters. The 2021 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook estimated that implementing the agreement will have no impact on customs duty receipts. In my mind, these changes are therefore necessary to assist Australian exporters and importers with their recovery from the pandemic.

RCEP was signed by Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, the then Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, and his counterparts from 14 countries on 15 November 2020. Implementing the agreement underscores Australia's commitment to the rules based international trading system and reinforces our free trade positioning in global markets. It underlines how important trade continues to be for our nation, for jobs and for the prosperity and future of our open and free Liberal democracy.

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