Bills Digest No. 160 2002-03
Customs Tariff
Amendment Bill (No. 1)
2003
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Customs Tariff
Amendment Bill (No. 1)
2003
Date Introduced:
15 May 2003
House: Representatives
Portfolio: Justice and Customs
Commencement:
On the day on which the
Act receives the Royal Assent except for the Schedule 1 amendment
relating to East Timor(1) which is made retrospective to
1 April 2003 and the Schedule 2 amendments relating to Least
Developed Countries (LDCs) and which commence on 1 July 2003.
Schedule 3 relates to the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement
(SAFTA) and the amendments commence on the day on which SAFTA
enters into force.
The purpose of the Bill is to amend the
Customs Tariff Act 1995 to allow preferential duty
treatment (i.e. duty free) for the importation of goods that are
the produce or manufacture of LDCs and East Timor, and from
Singapore under trade liberalisation initiatives.
Background
The background to the Bill is found in the
accompanying Bills Digest No. 159, 2002 03 for the Customs
Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2003.
The Customs Tariff Act 1995 imposes
Customs duties on goods imported into Australia utilising an
international harmonised tariff classification system.
Item 1 amends the Customs
Tariff Act 1995 to insert 'East Timor' in Schedule 1 to that
Act. The schedule sets out the countries and places to which
special rates of duty apply under the Australian system of tariff
preferences. The reference to 'ETIM' is the country abbreviation
for East Timor. This amendment has a retrospective commencement to
1 April 2003. As from that date, goods from East Timor will be
given a preference of five percentage points below the general
tariff rate, where applicable.
It is noted that the country abbreviation for
East Timor in the separate revision of Schedule 1 (see Item
13, below) lists East Timor as 'TL' reflecting East
Timor's preference for the name Timor-Leste.
On 25 October 2002, the Prime Minister, the
Hon. John Howard MP, announced at the APEC Leaders CEO Summit in
Los Cabos that Australia will grant tariff and quota free access
for 50 of the world's poorest countries.(2) These are
referred to as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and they include
countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and many parts of
sub-Saharan Africa. Preferential access assists LDCs to integrate
with the world economy.
Schedule 2 amends the Customs Tariff Act
1995 to give effect to the Government's commitment to LDCs.
The proposed amendments are to commence on 1 July 2003 consistent
with Australia's public commitment to assist LDCs.
Items 1 to 12 deal with
definitional matters and cross-referencing within the Tariff.
Item 13 replaces Parts 1, 2
and 3 of existing Schedule 1 to the Tariff with four new Parts.
Schedule 1 is a list of countries by name and abbreviation to which
special preferential rates of tariff apply. The existing Part 1
lists the Forum Island Countries in the Pacific, such as the Cook
Islands, Nauru and Fiji. Existing Parts 2 and 3 list Developing
Countries throughout the world to which separate rates of tariff,
respectively, apply. Included within the listing is some 'places'
treated as Developing Countries, such as the Falkland Islands and
Dependencies.
The revision of Schedule essentially adds the
list of LDCs and East Timor (treated as an LDC i.e. the proposed
Division 2 of Part 2 of the proposed revised list). Taken overall,
the proposed amendments revise and update the lists in Schedule 1
to the Tariff.
Items 17 to 34 make
adjustments to Schedule 3 of the Tariff to apply a Customs rate
equivalent to the Australian domestic excise rate for
alcohol, tobacco and petroleum on products imported from LCDs.
Otherwise, the duty free rate of entry for these products from LDCs
would be inconsistent with the treatment of the domestic product.
Likewise, item 42 applies a duty rate to goods to
which the Product Stewardship Oil Levy applies. The levy is imposed
on certain petroleum based oils and greases and their synthetic
equivalents to fund a recycling program for waste oil.
The Singapore Australia Free Trade Agreement
(SAFTA) is a bilateral agreement that provides Singapore and
Australia with more liberal access to each other's goods, services
and investment markets. SAFTA was signed on 17 February 2003 and
tabled in Parliament on 4 March 2003. SAFTA is expected to come
into force in the financial year 2003-04, subject to Australia's
treaty process and the exchange of diplomatic letters.
Schedule 3 amends the Customs Tariff Act
1995 to give effect to Australia's treaty obligations under
SAFTA. Schedule 3 commences the day on which SAFTA enters into
force.
Items 1 to 12 deal largely
with the revision of definitional matters and cross-referencing
within the Tariff.
Item 13 adds a proposed new
Part 5 to Schedule 1 to the Tariff. This proposed amendment enables
goods of Singapore origin to be recognised for preferential tariff
purposes.
Items 14 to 31 make
adjustments to Schedule 3 of the Tariff to apply a Customs rate
equivalent to the Australian domestic excise rate for
alcohol, tobacco and petroleum products imported from Singapore.
Otherwise, the duty free rate of entry for these products from LDCs
would be inconsistent with the treatment of the domestic product.
Likewise, item 38 applies a duty rate to goods to
which the Product Stewardship Oil Levy applies. The levy is imposed
on certain petroleum based oils and greases and their synthetic
equivalents to fund a recycling program for waste oil.
The same concluding comments as are
found in the accompanying Bills Digest No. 159, 2002 03 for the
Customs Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2003 apply to this related
Bill.
- As a courtesy, it is noted that the nation of
East Timor prefers the name Timor L'Este (also expressed as
Timor-Leste). See the comments of Mr K. W. Wilkie MP, Second
Reading debate in the House of Representatives, Debates, 5
March 2003, p. 12299.
- The Hon. John Howard MP, Prime Minister,
'Tariff-Free Access for the World's Poorest Countries', Media
Release, 25 October 2002.
Brendan Bailey
27 May 2003
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared for general distribution to
Senators and Members of the Australian Parliament. While great care
is taken to ensure that the paper is accurate and balanced, the
paper is written using information publicly available at the time
of production. The views expressed are those of the author and
should not be attributed to the Information and Research Services
(IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in
this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for
related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional
legal opinion. Readers are reminded that the paper is not an
official parliamentary or Australian government document.
IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's
contents with Senators and Members and their staff but not with
members of the public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2003
Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior
written consent of the Parliamentary Library, other than by Members
of the Australian Parliament in the course of their official
duties.
Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
2003.
Back to top