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1998-1999-2000
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
CUSTOMS DEPOT LICENSING CHARGES
AMENDMENT BILL 2000
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs,
Senator the Hon
Amanda Vanstone)
ISBN: 0642 464030
CUSTOMS DEPOT LICENSING CHARGES AMENDMENT BILL
2000
OUTLINE
The purpose of this Bill is to amend the
Customs Depot Licensing Charges Act 1997 to:
• increase the
number of transactions that will be required before the higher rate of depot
licensing charge will be payable; and
• set out the amount of depot
licence variation charge.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The
combined result of the amendments proposed in this Bill, the Import Processing
Charges Bill 2000 and the Customs Legislation Amendment and Repeal
(International Trade Modernisation) Bill 2000, is that there is an anticipated
decrease in costs for Customs of approximately $3.0m in the first year of full
operation (noting that the amendments will commence over time as the systems
developments necessary for them to operate come on line). That continues to
some extent for the next two years where the anticipated savings for Customs is
estimated at $2.56m and $1.92m respectively. Combining this with the
anticipation of full cost recovery, the results of the cargo management reforms
will significantly benefit Government.
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL
CLAUSES
Clause 1 Short Title
This clause provides for
the Act to be cited as the Customs Depot Licensing Charges Amendment Act 2000
(the Act).
Clause 2 Commencement
Subclause 2(1)
provides that sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Act commences on the day on which the
Act receives Royal Assent.
Subclause 2(2) provides that schedule 1of the
Act commences on the day on which item 146 in Schedule 3 to the Customs
Legislation Amendment and Repeal (International Trade Modernisation) Act 2000
commences.
Clause 3 Schedule(s)
This clause is the
formal enabling provision for the Schedule to the Act, providing that each Act
that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended as indicated.
The
clause also provides that any other item in a Schedule has effect according to
its terms. This is a standard enabling clause for transitional, savings and
application items in amending legislation.
SCHEDULE 1 – CUSTOMS
DEPOT LICENCE CHARGES
Increase in number of
transactions
Paragraphs 6(2)(b) and (c) of the Customs Depot
Licensing Charges Act 1997 (the Customs Depot Licensing Charges Act)
provides that the annual rate of depot licence charge is for a depot that was
licensed during the whole of the year (the reference year) ending on 31 March
preceding the commencement of the financial year for which the renewal is sought
:
• if the depot handled not less than 100 transactions in the
reference year - $4,000, or, if another amount not exceeding $6,000 is
prescribed, that other amount; or
• if the depot handled less than 100
transactions in the reference year - $1,500, or, if another amount not exceeding
$2,250 is prescribed, that other amount.
These two tiers of charges
depend on the number of transactions handled by the depot in the previous
year.
The Bill proposes to increase the number of transactions from 100
to 300 (item 3). This will mean that depots that handle between 100 and 300
transactions will be able to pay the lower rate of depot licensing charge when
their licence is renewed.
Item 6 of the Bill is an application provision
which provides that the amendment made by item 3 of the Bill applies to the
reference year ending on 31 March 2001 and all following reference
years.
Depot licence variation charge
New section 77LA of
the Customs Act 1901 (the Customs Act) (as contained in the Customs
Legislation Amendment and Repeal (International Trade Modernisation) Bill 2000)
provides the CEO may vary a depot licence by:
omitting the description of a
place that is currently described in the licence and substituting a new
description; or
altering the description of a place that is currently
described in the licence (item 131 of the Bill).
New subsection 77LA(2)
in part provides that an application for a variation of a depot licence must be
accompanied by a depot licence variation charge.
Items 1 and 2 of the
Bill define ‘depot licence variation charge’ to mean the depot
licence variation charge payable as set out in section 77LA of the Customs Act
and provide that depot licence variation charge payable as set out in section
77LA is imposed.
Item 4 of the Bill inserts a new section 6A into the
Customs Depot Licensing Charges Act.
New section 6A provides that the
amount of depot licence variation charge payable by an applicant for the
variation of a depot licence is $300 or, if another amount, not exceeding $450,
is prescribed, that other amount.
Item 5 of the Bill amends section 7 of
the Customs Depot Licence Charges Act to allow the Governor-General to make
regulations for the purposes of new section 6A.