Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CUSTOMS (PROHIBITED IMPORTS) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 3) 2002 NO. 206

STATUTORY RULES 2002 No. 206

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs

Customs Act 1901

Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 3)

Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed for giving effect to the Act.

Section 50 of the Act provides in part that the Governor-General may, by regulation, prohibit the importation of goods into Australia and that power may be exercised by prohibiting the importation of goods absolutely, or the importation of goods from a specified place, or by prohibiting the importation of goods unless specified conditions or restrictions have been complied with.

The Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 (the PI Regulations) control the importation of the goods specified in the various Regulations or the Schedules to the Regulations, by prohibiting importation absolutely, or making importation subject to the permission of a Minister or an authorised person.

The purpose of the amending Regulations is to prohibit absolutely the importation of devices that are designed or customized to be used by a person to commit suicide or to be used by a person to assist another to commit suicide. The amending Regulations also prohibit absolutely the importation of documents which:

•       promote the use of such devices; or

•       counsel or incite a person to commit suicide using such devices; or

•       instruct a person how to commit suicide using such devices.

The Government considers that the importation of these goods into Australia is not in the public interest.

The amending Regulations also repeal the restrictions on the importation of certain scientific instruments and of goods to which the seeds of certain plants are attached. These restrictions are no longer required as difficulties caused by these inaccurate instruments no longer exist and the quarantine risk posed by these goods is managed sufficiently by other means.

The amending Regulations commenced on gazettal.

ATTACHMENT

Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 3)

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 provides for the regulations to be named the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 3)

Regulation 2 - Commencement

Regulation 2 provides for the regulations to commence on gazettal.

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956

Regulation 3 provides for the PI Regulations to be amended as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1       Amendments

Item 1 - After regulation 3

Item 1 inserts new regulation 3AA which prohibits the importation of certain devices and documents relating to suicide. New subregulation 3AA(1) prohibits absolutely the importation of a device which is designed or customised to be used by a person to commit suicide, or to be used by a person to assist another person to commit suicide.

This regulation does not prohibit the importation of goods which might be used to commit suicide but which have not been designed or customised for that purpose.

New subregulation 3AA(2) prohibits absolutely the importation of documents that:

•       promote the use of such devices; or

•       counsel or incite a person to commit suicide using such a device; or

•       instruct a person how to commit suicide using such a device.

The term 'document' is defined in the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 as follows:

document includes:

(a)       any paper or other material on which there is writing;

(b)       any paper or other material on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them; and

(c)       any article or material from which sounds, images or writings are capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any other article or device.

Therefore, videos or CD ROMs which promote the use of devices referred to in proposed subregulation 3AA(1) are prohibited.

Item 2 - Schedule 3, items 10 and 11

Item 2 repeals items 10 and 11 of Schedule 3 to the PI Regulations.

Subregulation 4(2) of the PI Regulations provides

(2)       The importation into Australia of the goods specified in the second column of Schedule 3 is prohibited unless the conditions, restrictions or requirements specified in the third column of that Schedule opposite to the description of the goods are complied with.

Items 10 and 11 of Schedule 3 are:

•       goods to which is attached the seed of any plant the importation of which is prohibited under the Quarantine Act 1908; and

•       instruments for indicating specific gravity in accordance with Baume's scale.

These restrictions on importation are no longer required. The importation of seed which poses a quarantine risk is sufficiently regulated by other means. The restriction on the importation of Baume's scale instruments was introduced in 1939 to exclude instruments which did not accurately measure the sugar density of grapes (which was relevant for the (long since repealed) Wine Export Bounty Act 1947). This problem no longer exists. Items 10 and 11 of Schedule 3 are therefore being repealed.