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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Customs Tariff Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1998
Date Introduced: 2 April 1998
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Customs and Consumer Affairs
Commencement: The proposed amendments reducing the rate of customs
duty on aviation gasoline are taken to have commenced on 3 July
1997, and those allowing the importation of prescribed goods by, or
on behalf of, non-Australian Olympic and Paralympic family members
on 1 March 1998.
The major amendments proposed by
the Bill:
- reduce the rate of customs duty on aviation gasoline from
$0.18003 per litre to $0.17403 per litre from 3 July 1997; and
- allow the importation of prescribed goods by, or on behalf of,
non-Australian Olympic and Paralympic family members for use in, or
for purposes related to, the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic
Games and certain related events.
As there is no central theme to the Bill, a brief background to
each major amendment will be outlined below.
General Note: Customs tariffs can be altered by two methods,
namely by direct legislation or through the introduction of Customs
Tariff Proposals which are subsequently supported by legislation.
When Parliament is sitting, notice of tariff changes may be by
means of Customs Tariff Proposals introduced into the House of
Representatives. When Parliament is not sitting, notice of tariff
changes is by publication in the Commonwealth Gazette.
Notifications are subsequently introduced into the House of
Representatives as Customs Tariff Proposals. Customs Tariff
Proposals are enacted by means of legislation which alters the
Customs Tariff Act 1995.
Customs duty is payable upon the importation of goods into
Australia. Most goods which are imported attract a rate of customs
duty.
Amendments relating to aviation
gasoline
Customs Tariff Proposal No. 5 (1997) proposed a reduction, with
effect from 3 July 1997, in the rate of customs duty payable on
aviation gasoline (AVGAS) from $0.18003 per litre to $0.17403 cents
per litre. The amendments proposed by Schedule 2
of the Bill seek to give legislative effect to Customs Tariff
Proposal No. 5 (1997).
The customs duty on AVGAS assists in recovering Airservices
Australia costs of providing certain services to the aviation
sector, including terminal and navigational services.
While Government information sources are more circumspect in
indicating the source of the proposed reductions in the customs
duty payable on AVGAS proposed by the Bill, Airservices Australia
indicate the source to be the rationalisation of services provided
by Airservices Australia.
The Government states in the Second Reading Speech to the Bill
that:
In reviewing the costs of providing these services for 1997-98,
Airservices Australia proposed a reduction in the duty of 0.6 cents
per litre on AVGAS.
In Airservices Australia (AA) Annual Report 1996-1997,
AA states:
[the reduction in duty] is the result of anticipated savings in
costs following the rationalisation of services at a number of
General Aviation Airport Procedures (GAAP) aerodromes.(1)
Amendments relating to the Sydney
2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games and certain preceding events.
The amendments proposed by Schedule 4 of the
Bill give legislative effect to Customs Tariff Proposal No. 2
(1998) which allowed, from 1 March 1998, the importation of
prescribed goods by, or on behalf of, non-Australian Olympic and
Paralympic Family members for use in, or for purposes related to
certain events, including:
- the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games; and
- the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.
The rationale given by the Government in the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill for the proposed amendment is commitment to
the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.
It is unclear from both the Second Reading Speech and
Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill what constitutes a 'Family
member'. However, the Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill
states:
By-laws will prescribe the scope of non-Australian Olympic and
Paralympic Family membership ... . It is proposed to exclude
alcohol and tobacco products, items of equipment which are more
appropriately handled under the temporary importations provision,
and potential high revenue items such as vehicles and digital
communications equipment.(2)
The cost of the proposed amendments to Commonwealth revenues is
stated by Government in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill to
be inestimable.
1. Airservices Australia, Annual Report 1996-97,
35.
2. Customs Tariff Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1998, Explanatory
Memorandum, 8.
Ian Ireland
20 April 1998
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ISSN 1328-8091
Commonwealth of Australia 1998
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
1998.
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