Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CUSTOMS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1992 NO. 175

STATUTORY RULES 1992 No. 175

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Small Business, Construction and Customs

Customs Act 1901

Customs Regulations (Amendment)

Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that (1) "The Governor -General may make regulations not inconsistent with this Act prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed for giving effect to this Act ... "

Section 85 of the Act provides in part that "(1) Such fees as are prescribed are payable in respect of warehouse licenses".

Warehouse licence fees are payable annually on the basis of a scale of fees prescribed within regulations 50 and 52 of the Customs Regulations (the Regulations). These fees are reviewed annually in order to recover the costs associated with administering the warehouse system.

The warehouse licence fees for 1992-1993 have been determined by increasing the fees for 19911992 by 1.7 percent which is the increase in the Consumer Price Index from March 1991 to March 1992, and the new scale of fees are outlined in the Attachment'.

In addition to the revision of the fees, the Regulations amend subregulation 50(2C) to eliminate difficulties experienced by both the Australian Customs Service and users of the warehouse licensing system caused by the perceived ambiguities of that subregulation and to facilitate the consistent categorisation (and consequent fee-charging) of warehouses.

All the above changes, which would commence on 1 July 1992 (the commencement of the licensing period) are explained in further detail in the Attachment.

Attachment

Regulation 1: provides for the Regulations to commence on 1 July 1992.

Regulation 2: is a machinery provision which provides that the Customs Regulations are amended as set out in these Regulations.

Regulation 3: prescribes the new fees for the licensing of warehouses as follows:

Subregulation 3.1 amends subregulation 50(2) by increasing the prescribed fee for new warehouse licences from $8,765 to $8,914;

subregulation 3.2 makes a technical drafting amendment to subregulation 50(2) consequential upon the changes in subregulation 3.5;

subregulation 3.3 amends subregulation 50(2B) by increasing the prescribed fee for the renewal of a warehouse licence from $6,845 to $6,961;

subregulation 3.4 makes a technical drafting amendment to subregulation 50(2B) consequential upon the changes in subregulation 3.5;

subregulation 3.5 amends regulation 50 to remove difficulties experienced by both the Australian Customs Service and licencees with categorising warehouses for the purposes of charging the additional fee formerly specified in subregulation 50(2C) and also to simplify the language contained in that subregulation. The ambiguities arose where a warehouse was licenced to enable a number of the functions formerly specified in subregulation 50(2C) to be carried out. This amendment removes these ambiguities by omitting subregulation 50(2C) and substituting new subregulations 50(2C), 50(2CA) and 50(2CB) which specifies the revised additional fee payable in respect of licences where the grant or renewal of the warehouse licence relates to:

•       duty free shops - from $425 to $432 (new subregulation 50(2C);

•       the reducing, bottling or canning of potable spirits but does not relate to a duty free shop -from $446 to $454 (new paragraph 50(2CA)(a));

•       the storing or delivering of bulk liquid or bulk potable spirits but does not relate to a duty free shop or the reducing, bottling or canning of potable spirits - from $484 to $492 (new paragraph 50(2CA)(b);

•       the storing of goods that are the property of the licensee or of an associated company of the licensee, but does not relate to a duty free shop, or the reducing, bottling or canning of potable spirits, or the storing or delivering of bulk liquid or bulk potable spirits from $341 to $347 (new Paragraph 50(2CA)(c)); or

•       the storing of goods that are the property of a person other than the licensee or an associated company of the licensee, but does relate to a duty free shop, or the reducing, bottling or canning of potable spirits, or the storing or delivering of bulk liquid or bulk potable spirits - from $300 to $305 (new paragraph 50(2CA)(d)).

Subregulation 50(2CB) provides that where the warehouse to which the licence relates is an approved place for the purposes of the Excise Act 1901 or is the subject of an application under section 5A of that Act, then an additional amount of $492 (increased from $484) is payable in respect of such a warehouse.

Subregulation 3.6 increases the deductions which may be made from fees payable under subregulations 50(2) and 50(2B) where computer accounting systems are used that provide real time status reporting from $145 to $147.

Subregulation 3.7 increases the deductions which may be made from fees payable under subregulations 50(2) and 50(2B) where monthly status reporting systems are used from $354 to $360.

Subregulation 3.8 increases the deductions which may be made from fees payable under subregulations 50(2) and 50(2B) where the system of recording and accounting used in relation to the warehouse includes the use of a computer having both real time status reporting and monthly status reporting capacity from $499 to $507.

Regulation 4 increases the fees charged in respect of transactions involving the movement of dutiable goods out of a warehouse to which a warehouse licence relates from $9.94 to $10.10.