Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

CUSTOMS AMENDMENT (ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES) BILL 2013

This is the sixth tranche of anti-dumping legislation introduced by this government into the Parliament in the past two years.

We are well advanced in implementing tranches one to five. The final reforms contained in that legislation will be proclaimed in the coming weeks.

In the second tranche of legislation, we established a new Review Officer Panel—to provide timely and appropriate merits review of anti-dumping decisions.

I can announce this morning my decision to appoint three eminent Australians to this panel:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stephen Skehill, the outgoing Trade Measures Review Officer, for his dedication to this role over the past two years.

He has set the precedent for thorough and reasoned review that is inherent in a truly independent review process—and I expect the panel to follow his good work with their own.

In the fifth tranche of legislation – passed in March this year—we established the Australian Anti-Dumping Commission.

The commission will start work on the first of July this year.

I expect to be in a position to announce the appointment of the Anti-Dumping Commissioner in the coming month.

The new Anti-Dumping Commission will start work with significantly more funding.

Last December the Prime Minister, the Minister for Industry and Innovation and I announced an additional $24.4 million for the administration of our anti-dumping system.

This was outlined in the budget – with the first $8.2 million being rolled out in the next financial year.

I am pleased to present the Customs Amendment (Anti-Dumping Measures) Bill 2013 and the Customs Tariff (Anti-Dumping) Amendment Bill 2013, which represent the next step in the government's anti-dumping reforms.

Together these bills do three key things:

I will now step through each of these in detail.

Removal of the mandatory consideration of the lesser duty rule

Firstly, these bills will remove, in certain circumstances, the Minister's mandatory consideration of the lesser duty rule.

This means that the Minister will have discretion to consider the desirability of fixing a lesser duty, in certain circumstances.

These circumstances are where:

In these complex cases, where injurious dumping or subsidisation has been found, the Minister will be given the discretion to impose the maximum permitted duties.

Clarification of the application of retrospective duties

Secondly, this bill will make changes to the retrospective duties provisions to align the legislation more closely to the relevant World Trade Organization agreements.

The amendments also make it clear that the relevant Minister is the 'decision maker' for certain elements required to be established in the process of applying retrospective duties.

The bill will also make a number of amendments to existing retrospective duties provisions to improve their structure and consistency.

The retrospective duties provisions are currently very difficult to understand, indeed, they have never been used.

We are making these reforms to improve the accessibility of the retrospective duties provisions—and clarify their application.

We are also revising the guidelines on the application of these provisions—to make their operation clearer.

Introduction of a new type of anti-circumvention inquiry to address 'sales at a loss' cases

Thirdly, this bill will introduce a new type of anti-circumvention inquiry to address 'sales at a loss' cases.

Last year we passed legislation to introduce an anti-circumvention framework into Australia's anti-dumping system.

The reforms in this bill will take that framework one-step further by addressing situations where anti-dumping measures have been ineffective.

A new type of anti-circumvention inquiry will be able to be conducted faster than other anti-circumvention inquiries, taking only 100 days, instead of 155 days.

This type of inquiry can be initiated following an application from Australian industry where there is evidence that prices of the imported goods have not increased in line with the imposition of the duties.

The Minister will also have the power to commence this type of inquiry.

The bill will also make a complementary change to the present provisions of the legislation that will allow more rigorous treatment of transactions where evidence suggests that the price is influenced by a commercial or other relationship between the parties.

This will allow 'sales at a loss' situations to be addressed at the outset, in both establishing the existence of dumping, and in setting an appropriate level of measures.

Conclusion

In developing these reforms, the Government has consulted closely with members of the International Trade Remedies Forum.

This Forum has played a substantial role in providing advice to the Government on the operation of Australia's anti-dumping system – and on options for reform.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the Forum members for their input to date, much of which has found its way into these tranches of legislation.

I will continue to work closely with the Forum and I expect it will continue its vigorous discussion and input into policy development.

I make it clear that this bill will not be the last word on anti-dumping reform.

There is more work to be done—and I look forward to working with members of the International Trade Remedies Forum, and others, on this important task.

CUSTOMS TARIFF (ANTI-DUMPING) AMENDMENTS BILL 2013

I am pleased to present this bill, the Customs Tariff (Anti-dumping) Amendment Bill.

This bill, together with the Customs Amendment (Anti-Dumping Measures) Bill 2013, will give the Minister discretion to consider the desirability of fixing a lesser duty, in certain circumstances.

The legislation sets out the three circumstances where the Minister is not required to, but may, consider the desirability of fixing a lesser amount of duty.

In these complex cases, where injurious dumping or subsidisation has been found, the Minister can impose the maximum permitted duties.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.