Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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FISHING LEVY AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2003 (NO. 1) 2003 NO. 134

STATUTORY RULES 2003 No. 134

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation

Fishing Levy Act 1991

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Fishing Levy Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 1)

Section 8 of the Fishing Levy Act 1991 (the Levy Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of section 6 of the Levy Act.

Section 5 of the Levy Act imposes levy in respect of a fishing concession. Section 6 of the Levy Act provides that the amount of levy imposed on the fishing concession is the amount prescribed by the Regulations.

Section 168 of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Management Act.

Section 110 of the Management Act provides that the levy imposed by the Levy Act is due and payable at a time or times ascertained in accordance with the regulations made under the Management Act.

"Fishing Concession" is defined under the Levy Act and the Management Act to mean, among other things, a fishing permit.

The Fishing Levy Amendment Regulations 2003 (the 2003 Amended Regulations) amend the Fishing Levy Regulations 2002 (the 2002 Regulations) to include reference to two additional fisheries, namely the North West Slope Fishery (NWSF) and the Western Deep Water Trawl Fishery (WDTF). The 2003 Amendment Regulations set the amounts of levy payable, and the timeframes for when those amounts of levy are due and payable on fishing concessions in the NWS and WDT fisheries.

The 2003 Amendment Regulations, like the 2002 Regulations, are made under both the Levy Act and the Management Act.

In accordance with government policy and legislation, AFMA recovers from the holders of fishing concessions (operators) in these two fisheries (as it does in each other fishery):

•       the costs of management attributable to the operators' activities, such as the costs of developing and implementing management arrangements, surveillance costs and costs of running the Management Advisory Committee (MAC); and

•       the fishing industry's contribution to the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation (FRDC) to fund research in the specific fishery. This contribution is known as the research component and is recovered under the Levy Act in accordance with the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989 and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Regulations 1991. A part of the research component is recovered from any given specific fishery, with that part being collected from each concession holder in that fishery. Other costs, such as the costs of prosecutions are funded by the Commonwealth.

AFMA recovers the management costs and the research component in the form of a levy paid to the Commonwealth under the Levy Act and the Management Act, which is then paid on to AFMA under arrangements provided for in the Fisheries Administration Act 1991.

The 2003 Amendment Regulations set the levy for the NWSF and the WDTF.

The budgets on which the rates of levy for each of the two fisheries were based were prepared in consultation with the MAC established by AFMA for each of the two fisheries.

Details of the 2003 Amendment Regulations, including rates of levy and when the levy is due and payable, are set out in the Attachment.

The Regulations commenced on gazettal.

ATTACHMENT

DETAILS OF THE PROPOSED FISHING LEVY AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2003 BY REFERENCE TO EACH OF THE TWO FISHERIES

Note:

In this Attachment:

"AFMA" means the Australian Fisheries Management Authority;

"research component" means the proportion of the total levy that is collected as the research component for the purposes of the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989 and which will be specified in subregulation 4A(2) of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Regulations 1991;

"2002 Regulations" means the Fishing Levy Regulations 2002;

"invoice date" for a levy or an instalment of levy, means the date mentioned on the invoice issued by AFMA for the levy or instalment; and

"proposed Regulations" means the proposed Fishing Levy Amendment Regulations 2003.

Regulation 1 Name of Regulations

The proposed regulation 1 will provide for the regulations to be cited as the Fishing Levy Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 Commencement

The proposed regulation 2 will provide that the proposed regulations would commence on gazettal.

Regulation 3 Amendment of Fishing Levy Regulations 2002

The proposed regulation 3 refers to Schedule 1 which will amend the Fishing Levy Regulations 2002.

Schedule 1

The proposed Schedule 1.1 will amend Regulation 1.5 of the 2002 Regulations to insert a reference to the North West Slope Fishery.

The proposed Schedule 1.2 will amend Regulation 1.5 of the 2002 Regulations to insert a reference to the Western Deep Water Trawl Fishery.

Part 12.A North West Slope Fishery

Regulation 12A.1 defines the terms used in the Part.

Regulation 12.A.2 sets the amount of levy payable for a North West Slope Fishery fishing permit in force on or after the commencement of the Regulations and on or before 30 June 2003.

The levy payable is $3,000 including a research component of $ 385.

This amount is a significant decrease from the $10,560.57 prescribed in the 2001 Regulations due to a budget surplus. Levies collected in previous years from permit holders in this fishery were intended to be used for the development of a Management Plan. After the collection of these levies, the development of this Plan was put on hold to address more urgent issues in other fisheries. The Management Advisory Committee for this fishery agreed that some of the budget surplus could be used to subsidise management costs for the 2002/2003 financial year, and that a levy of $3,000 per vessel (as is now being proposed) would still maintain an adequate surplus to initiate future research requirements.

The levy is payable on 27 June 2003 or 28 days after the invoice date for the levy, whichever is later (Regulation 12A.3).

Part 18A Western Deep Water Trawl Fishery

Regulation 18A.1 defines the terms used in the Part.

Regulation 18A.2 sets the levy payable for a Western Deep Water Trawl Fishery fishing permit in force on or after the commencement of the Regulations and on or before 30 June 2003.

The levy payable would be $3,000, including a research component of $223.

This amount is a significant decrease from $7,150.82 prescribed in the 2001 Regulations due to a budget surplus. Levies collected in previous years from permit holders in this fishery were intended to be used for the development of a Management Plan. After the collection of these levies, the development of this Plan was put on hold to address more urgent issues in other fisheries. The Management Advisory Committee for this fishery agreed that some of the budget surplus could be used to subsidise management costs for the 2002/2003 financial year, and that a levy of $3,000 per vessel (as is now being proposed) would still maintain an adequate surplus to initiate future research requirements.

The levy is payable on 27 June 2003 or 28 days after the invoice date for the levy, whichever is later (Regulation 18A.3).