Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CUSTOMS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 53

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 53

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Science and Small Business

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 or for the conduct of any business relating to the Customs, ...".

The purpose of these Regulations is to amend the Customs Regulations (the Regulations) to allow Anhydrous Dextrose and Monohydrate Dextrose to be imported duty-free via a Tariff Concession Order (TCO). Anhydrous Dextrose and Monohydrate Dextrose are pharmaceutical grades of dextrose used in intravenous solution in hospitals and which are not manufactured in Australia.

Part XVA of the Act provides for the duty-free entry of certain goods via a TCO where it is established that the duty-free entry of those goods is not likely to have a significant adverse effect on the market for Australian made substitutable goods. Section 269SJ of the Act provides that the Comptroller must not make a TCO in respect of goods declared by the regulations to be goods to which a TCO should not extend.

Schedule 2 to the Regulations lists goods in respect of which TCOs must not be made under Part XVA of the Act. It does this by specifying the tariff heading or subheading of such goods in Column 2 of Schedule 2. Column 3 of the Schedule provides the facility to list goods within the restricted tariff class for which a TCO may be made.

On 14 December 1993 the Government approved the removal of Anhydrous Dextrose and Monohydrate Dextrose from the class of goods in respect of which a TCO cannot be made. Anhydrous Dextrose and Monohydrate Dextrose are classified to tariff sub-heading 1702.3 0 in Schedule 3 to the Customs Tariff Act 1987. Item 6 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations excludes goods classified to headings 1520 to 2403, inclusive, from eligibility for a TCO.

Subregulation 3.1 amends Schedule 2 to insert the words "Anhydrous Dextrose and Monohydrate Dextrose", into Column 3 of Item 6 so that the restriction does not apply to those goods.

Subregulation 1.1 provides that the Regulations are taken to have commenced on 14 December 1993. This retrospectivity does not contravene subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 as it confers a benefit on importers of Anhydrous Dextrose and Monohydrate Dextrose by making them eligible for duty-free entry under a TCO and does not impose any liabilities on any person.