Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Going back to the issue of anticircumvention inquiries, I note that this bill does introduce a new division in part XVB of the Customs Act, division 5A, anticircumvention inquiries. If this division allows Australian industry or the minister to initiate an anticircumvention inquiry, what would the criteria be for such an inquiry to be initiated, and how in practical terms would it work? And how does this tie in with the whole issue of part 6.1.0 of the WTO article, which I will refer to briefly—that is, the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade—which is the section that the government has relied on, I think, to say that my proposal for a reverse onus of proof would somehow circumvent the WTO? There are two matters tied up in that, but I would be grateful if, firstly, examples could be given of the way that anticircumvention inquiries would be initiated, what the thresholds would be, what the level of interface with industry would be—particularly small to medium businesses that may have concerns about these sorts of matters?