Bills Digest No. 39, 2022–23
PDF version [418KB]
Leah Ferris
Law and Bills Digest Section
18
November 2022
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Key points
- The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) was signed on 2 April 2022.
- The parties intend that ECTA function as an interim or ‘early harvest’ agreement in advance of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to be concluded by the end of 2022.
- The Bills implement Australia’s commitments under the ECTA that require the passage of legislation by Parliament.
- The Bills will amend the Customs Act 1901 and Customs Tariff Act 1995to reduce the import tax rate on certain goods being imported into Australia from India and amend the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 to cease the taxation of income of non‑resident Indian firms providing technical services remotely to Australian customers.
- The ECTA is currently being considered by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.
- Stakeholders have been broadly supportive of the ratification of the ECTA, although some have questioned the quality of the outcomes for agricultural exporters, Australia’s commitments relating to temporary migrant workers and raised concerns about the challenges of negotiating a CECA with India.
- The Opposition has indicated its strong support for the passage of the Bills as quickly as possible to give effect to a further tariff cut which will occur if the ECTA is ratified in 2022.
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Contents
Purpose of the Bills
Structure of the Bills
Background
Committee consideration
Policy position of non-government
parties/independents
Position of major interest groups
Financial implications
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Rights
Key issues and provisions
Commencement details
Concluding comments
Date introduced: 27
October 2022
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Home
Affairs
Commencement: For
commencement details, refer to page 9 of this Bills Digest.
Note that the Treasury Laws Amendment
(Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation)
Bill 2022 was introduced into the House of Representatives on the 28
September 2022 and comes under the Treasury portfolio.
Links: The links to the Bills,
their Explanatory Memoranda and second reading speeches can be found on the
home page for the Customs
Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement
Implementation) Bill 2022, Customs
Tariff Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement
Implementation) Bill 2022 and the Treasury
Laws Amendment (Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement
Implementation) Bill 2022 or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent,
they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as
at November 2022.
Purpose of
the Bills
This Bills Digest relates to three Bills (collectively
‘the Bills’):
The purpose of these Bills is to amend the Customs Act 1901,
the Customs
Tariff Act 1995 and the International Tax
Agreements Act 1953 to implement Australia’s commitments under the Australia-India
Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) that require the
passage of legislation by Parliament.[1]
The general position under Australian law is that treaties
which Australia has joined or signed are not directly and automatically
incorporated into Australian law. Signature and ratification do not, of
themselves, make treaties operative domestically.
Following signature, treaties are tabled in both Houses of
Parliament for consideration by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT).
Following receipt of JSCOT’s report, and prior to entry into force of the
treaty, any legislative changes required to implement the treaty domestically
must pass both Houses of Parliament.[2]
Structure
of the Bills
The Customs Bill will amend the Customs Act to:
- implement
the rules contained in the ECTA for determining the originating status
of goods imported from India (Indian originating goods) for the purpose of
determining which goods are eligible for preferential tariff treatment (Part 1,
Schedule 1)
- allow
the Regulations to prescribe documentation and record keeping requirements for
exporters of Australian originating goods, and provide Australian Customs
officials with the power to verify such goods (Part 2, Schedule 1) and
- clarify
how the amendments contained in Part 1 will apply (Part 3, Schedule 1).
Schedule 1 of the Tariff Bill will amend the Customs Tariff
Act to specify the tariff rates that will apply to Indian originating goods
under the ECTA.
Schedule 1 of the Taxation Bill will amend the International
Tax Agreements Act to cease the taxation of income of non‑resident Indian firms
providing technical services remotely to Australian customers.
Background
Overview of
the Australian tariff system
All goods (above a set minimum value) imported into
Australia, whether by air, sea or post, must be cleared through Australian
Customs/Border Force.[3]
The typical duties and taxes paid on imported goods include import processing
charges, Goods and Services Tax (GST), and customs duties (also known as
tariffs or import duties).
Customs duty is payable as a rate/percentage of the total
value of the imported goods.[4]
Customs duty rates typically range from 0% to 10%. Different goods are taxed at
different customs duty rates (for example, 5%, 10%) according to the Australian
tariff classification system.
Free trade agreements (FTAs) aim to reduce tariffs for
goods traded between countries. In other words, goods imported from an FTA
partner country may be eligible to receive preferential (lower) duty rates.
Some economists argue that lower tariffs and fewer trade barriers promote
economic growth.[5]
History of
the negotiations of the ECTA
Launch of a
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement
Australia and India first launched negotiations for a
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in May 2011.[6]
However, the negotiating positions of Australia and India were considered ‘too
far apart to make the conclusion of a CECA a realistic objective in the near
term’.[7]
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
(DFAT), ‘there were nine rounds of negotiations before both countries decided
to suspend negotiations in 2016, pending the outcome of other multilateral
regional negotiations’.[8]
India’s
participation in RCEP negotiations
In November 2012, Australia, China, Japan, India, New
Zealand, South Korea, and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) launched negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) Agreement.[9]
In his report to the Australian Government setting out an India economic
strategy to 2035, the former Secretary of DFAT, Peter Varghese, recommended
that ‘Australia should prioritise trade negotiations with India in RCEP and
return to bilateral trade negotiations once an RCEP deal is concluded’.[10]
This recommendation was supported by the Morrison Government in its response to
Mr Varghese’s report.[11]
Prior to the RCEP Agreement being concluded in November
2020, India announced that it would be leaving negotiations as the RCEP
Agreement ‘does not address satisfactorily India’s outstanding issues and
concerns’.[12]
This outcome was previously foreshadowed by Mr Varghese, who noted that ‘India’s
ability to make sufficiently credible market access commitments in RCEP is
constrained by its sensitivities in goods, particularly agriculture, but also
by its desire to lower its trade deficit with China’.[13]
Following India’s withdrawal, the remaining countries
agreed to a Ministerial Declaration which set out the process for India to
accede to the RCEP Agreement at a later date.[14]
Australia has since ratified the RCEP Agreement.[15]
Negotiation
of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement
In August 2021, then Australian Trade, Tourism and
Investment Minister Dan Tehan and his Indian counterpart, Commerce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal, released a joint statement discussing the negotiation of
an ‘early harvest announcement by December 2021 on an interim agreement to
liberalise and deepen bilateral trade in goods and services, and pave the way
for a comprehensive agreement’.[16]
This was followed by the formal launch of negotiations on 1
October 2021, where Australia and India reaffirmed their commitment to reach an
interim agreement by December 2021 and ‘to conclude the negotiations of a full
CECA by the end of 2022’.[17]
Commentators such as Justin Brown, a former Deputy
Secretary at DFAT, noted that this change in trade policy by the Indian
Government reflects ‘India’s own concerns with China’, as well as a ‘strong focus by India to
identify new markets to support its post-pandemic recovery’.[18]
However, the agriculture sector remains a key sensitivity for India and ‘the
Modi government has been reluctant to put domestic farmers (a major voting
bloc) at risk, especially with certain Indian state elections in late 2022 and
in 2023 and the national elections following just over the horizon in 2024’.[19]
The ECTA was signed on 2 April 2022 and primarily
focuses on commitments on goods and services, with commitments on investment,
government procurement and digital trade falling outside of the scope of the ECTA.[20]
A summary of Australia’s obligations under the ECTA is set out in the
National Interest Analysis prepared by DFAT.[21]
DFAT has stated that it will pursue ‘further
liberalisation for goods (such as dairy, grains, horticulture and certain
non-ferrous metals) and services (such as education, professional services and
environmental services)’ in negotiating a CECA with India.[22]
Committee
consideration
Joint
Standing Committee on Treaties
In line with Australia’s treaty making processes, the text
of the ECTA was tabled in Parliament on 4 April 2022 and was
subsequently referred to JSCOT for inquiry and report, but this inquiry lapsed
following the dissolution of the House of Representatives on 11 April 2022.[23]
Following the commencement of the 47th Parliament, the ECTA
was tabled in Parliament on 27 July 2022 and re-referred to JSCOT on 1
August 2022, with JSCOT to report to Parliament by 18 November 2022.[24]
Selection
of Bills Committee
At its meeting on 26 October 2022, the Senate Selection of
Bills Committee deferred consideration of the Bills until its next meeting.[25]
Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
The Scrutiny of Bills Committee had no comments on the
Treasury Bill and has yet to consider the Customs Bill or the Tariff Bill.[26]
Policy
position of non-government parties/independents
Shadow Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Kevin
Hogan, has stated that the Coalition supports the passage of the Bill and ‘will
do whatever is needed, including sitting extended hours, to ensure passage
through both Houses of Parliament as quickly as possible’.[27]
Position of
major interest groups
Stakeholders have been broadly supportive of the
ratification of the ECTA, noting it will be a stepping-stone to a
broader comprehensive agreement with India.[28]
For example, the Group of Eight (a peak body representing Australia’s leading
research-intensive universities) welcomed the ECTA for facilitating
educational exchange opportunities with Indian students providing them with
more post-study work rights in Australia.[29]
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) noted the ECTA
is a ‘welcome and important step in the journey towards a greater trade and
investment relationship’ with India.[30]
The BCA submitted that that the Government must redouble its efforts to
conclude a full CECA as soon as possible and listed a number of areas which
would require further work, including investment protections, promoting greater
labour mobility and greater agriculture access for Australian exporters.[31]
While India has agreed to reduce tariffs on products such
as Australian wine and sheep meat, a number of key sectors of interest to
Australia (for example, dairy, sugar and wheat) remain subject to high tariffs.[32]
Spirits and Cocktails Australia and the Australian
Distillers’ Association expressed their disappointment that the ECTA did
not remove ‘the very high tariffs faced by imported spirits’ into India.[33]
Stakeholders also questioned the ‘lack of ambition’ with respect to products
where tariffs were reduced, with Pernod Ricard Winemakers (which produces
Australian wine brands Jacob's Creek, St Hugo, George Wyndham and Orlando) stating
that the ECTA ‘represents a missed opportunity to open up a critical
growth market at a really delicate time in our industry’.[34]
Queensland Canegrowers Association Ltd noted that ‘India
has failed to make new commitments on sugar’ and raised concerns regarding
‘India’s reluctance to abide by its existing international (WTO) trade
obligations with respect to sugar and its general reluctance to constructively
engage in trade negotiations affecting agriculture’.[35]
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) raised a
number of concerns regarding the ECTA and called for the agreement to be
re-negotiated.[36]
In particular, the ACTU argued that the commitments made by Australia in the ECTA
with respect to temporary workers are not consistent with the Government’s
policy to preference permanent migration and do not protect migrant workers.[37]
Financial
implications
The Explanatory Memoranda to the Customs and Tariff Bills
state that the Government estimates that implementation of the ECTA will
reduce customs duty collections by $335 million over the forward estimates.[38]
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Taxation Bill states
that changes to the taxation arrangements proposed in the Bill ‘were estimated
to have a cost to receipts of $145 million over the forward estimates at the
time of the 2022 Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook’.[39]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, the Government has assessed the Bills’
compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act.
The Government considers that the Bills are compatible.[40]
Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights
At the time of writing, the Parliamentary Joint Committee
on Human Rights had not yet commented on the Bills.
Key issues
and provisions
Customs Bill
The Customs Act provides for the broad
administrative rules regarding the import and export of goods, including which Rules
of Origin (ROO) apply to goods with respect to a specific FTA.
ROO determine which goods are eligible for preferential
tariff treatment. ROO are negotiated between parties to a FTA and therefore may
vary across different FTAs. Generally, they require a product to be entirely
produced in one of the participating countries or have a minimum percentage of
the value produced there in order to qualify for preferential tariff treatment.[41]
Product Specific Rules determine the circumstances in
which goods imported from a party, that have components or inputs from a non-party,
are still eligible for preferential tariff treatment.
In order for goods to receive preferential treatment under
the FTA, an exporter will need to demonstrate that they comply with the ROO
under the relevant FTA. While some FTAs allow exporters to self-declare the
origin of their products, other FTAs empower Customs authorities to request
businesses to show a Government-authorised Certificate
of Origin in order for the business to receive a preferential tariff
treatment.[42]
Part 1, Schedule 1 of the Customs Bill inserts proposed
Division 1JA into Part VIII of the Customs Act to provide for
which goods are Indian originating goods and are therefore entitled to receive
preferential rates of duty (as set out in Chapter
4 of the ECTA).
Broadly speaking, to be classified as an Indian
originating good, a good must be:
- wholly
obtained or produced in India, or in India and Australia (proposed section
153ZMM) or
- produced
in India, or India and Australia, with non-originating materials (or a
combination or originating and non-originating materials) that meet the Product
Specific Rules set out in Annex
4B to the ECTA or the requirements set out in proposed subsection
153ZMN(3)[43]
and
the importer of the goods must have obtained a Certificate
of Origin for the goods (except where Australia has waived this requirement).
Proposed section 153ZMP specifies how packaging
materials and containers are to be treated when determining the origin of the
goods, while proposed section 153ZMQ clarifies the circumstances when
originating goods that are transferred through other countries before arriving
in Australia (referred to as consignment) will not receive preferential
treatment.
The provisions contained in Part 2, Schedule 1 of the
Customs Bill:
- allow
the Regulations to prescribe record keeping obligations which apply to the
exporter/producer of goods claimed to be Australian originating goods (proposed
section 126AMF) and
- provide
Australian Customs officials with the power to require an exporter/producer to
produce such records (proposed section 126AMG) and the power to ask the exporter/producer
questions in order to verify the origin of the goods (proposed section 126AMH).
Tariff Bill
The Customs Tariff Act sets out the specific
tariff/customs duty rates that apply to goods imported into Australia. The
Tariff Bill amends the Customs Tariff Act to provide for the customs
duty rates for Indian originating goods in accordance with the ECTA.
The Trade
in Goods Chapter (Chapter 2) of the ECTA outlines Australia and
India’s commitments to eliminate or reduce customs duties for a range of goods,
as outlined in Schedules for each Party in Annex 2A (Tariff Commitments). Australia’s
Schedule to Annex 2A provides for the customs duty rates to be applied to Indian
originating goods.
Specifically, the Bill will:
- provide
a ‘Free’ rate of customs duty for ‘Indian originating goods’ (other than goods
listed in proposed Schedule 10A to the Customs
Tariff Act, at item 24 of Schedule 1 to the Tariff Bill)
with effect from entry into force of the ECTA
- insert
proposed Schedule 10A to:
- specify
the phasing rates of customs duty for certain ‘Indian originating goods’ that
will incrementally reduce to ‘Free’ by the 5th calendar year after ECTA
enters into force for Australia; and
- maintain
rates of customs duty on certain alcohol, tobacco and petroleum products
equivalent to the rates of excise duty payable on the same good when locally
manufactured; and
- amend
Schedule 4 of the Customs Tariff Act to maintain customs duty rates for
certain ‘Indian originating goods’ in accordance with the applicable
concessional item.[44]
Australia and India have also agreed that a ‘double-tariff
cut’ will occur if ECTA enters into force prior to 1 January 2023.[45]
A double tariff-cut is where an FTA has provided for an immediate tariff
reduction to occur during the first year the agreement has entered into force,
and then the staged tariff reduction occurs on 1 January of the following year,
therefore enabling two tariff reductions to occur in a relatively short period
of time. Proposed subsection 16(4AC) of the Customs Tariff Act,
at item 9 of Schedule 1 to the Tariff Bill gives effect to this
commitment.
Taxation
Bill
Through an exchange of side letters to the ECTA,[46]
Australia and India have agreed to resolve an issue concerning the application
of taxation powers under the Agreement
between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of India
for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with
respect to Taxes on Income (the DTAA).
Presently, due to the interaction of the DTAA and
Australian taxation legislation, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is
required to tax the offshore income of Indian firms providing technical services
into Australia, although Australia does not generally tax such services and
such taxation is not imposed on these services from other countries.[47]
The typical category of services currently impacted by these arrangements
include engineering services, architectural services and computer software
development.[48]
Item 3 of the Taxation Bill inserts proposed
section 11J into the International Tax Agreements Act to clarify
that payments or credits made to Indian residents by Australian customers for
technical services provided remotely that are covered by Article 12(3)(g) of
the DTAA are not subject to taxation in Australia.
Commencement
details
Sections 1–3 of the Customs Bill, Tariff Bill and Taxation
Bill commence on Royal Assent.
Schedule 1 of the Customs Bill and Schedule 1 of the
Taxation Bill will commence on the later of the day of Royal Assent and the day
the ECTA enters into force. However, the amendments will not commence at
all if the ECTA does not enter into force.
Schedule 1 of the Tariff Bill will commence at the same
time as Schedule 1 of the Customs Bill commences.
Concluding
comments
Overall, stakeholders have been broadly supportive of the
ratification of the ECTA, though some have questioned the quality of the
outcomes for agricultural exporters, Australia’s commitments relating to
temporary migrant workers and raised concerns regarding the challenges of
negotiating a CECA with India. As noted by Professor Amita Batra, India’s only
other attempt at an early harvest agreement (a limited “trade in goods”
agreement with Thailand in 2003) ‘has not culminated into a full free trade
agreement even after 19 years of the framework agreement having been announced’.[49]
[1]. Australian
Government, National Interest Analysis, [2022] ATNIA 6,
Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, 11.
[2]. ‘Australia’s
treaty-making process’, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, (DFAT).
[3]. ‘Import
declaration’, Australian Border Force, updated 9 June 2021.
[4]. Importers
must pay customs duty according to the estimated total value of imported goods,
known as ‘ad valorem’ which is Latin for ‘tax according to value’. The most
common method for valuing imported goods is to use the ‘transaction value’,
which is the price the importer actually paid for the goods.
[5]. ‘Stronger
open trade policies enable economic growth for all’, World Bank, 3 April
2018.
[6]. ‘Australia-India
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (AI-CECA)’, DFAT.
[7]. Peter
Varghese, An
India Economic Strategy to 2035: Navigating from Potential to Delivery,
a report to the Australian Government, (Canberra: DFAT, 2018), 336.
[8]. ‘Australia-India
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (AI-CECA)’, DFAT.
[9]. Joint
Declaration on the Launch of Negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership, done at Phnom Penh, 20 November 2012.
[10]. Varghese,
An
India Economic Strategy to 2035, 336, 343.
[11]. Australian
Government, Response
to an India Economic Strategy to 2035, (Canberra: 2018), 3.
[12]. R.
Panda, ‘A
Step Too far: Why India Opted Out of RCEP’, Global Asia 14, no. 4 (December
2019): 82–88.
[13]. Varghese,
An
India Economic Strategy to 2035, 336.
[14]. ‘Ministers’
declaration on India’s participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP)’, DFAT.
[15]. ‘Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP)’, DFAT.
[16]. Dan
Tehan (Minister for Trade, Tourism
and Investment) and Piyush Goyal (Minister for Commerce and Industry,
Food and Consumer Affairs and Textiles), ‘Statement
on the India-Australia Trade Talks by Trade Ministers of Australia and India’,
joint media release, 27 August 2021.
[17]. Dan
Tehan (Minister for Trade, Tourism
and Investment) and Piyush Goyal (Minister for Commerce and Industry,
Food and Consumer Affairs and Textiles), ‘Australia
and India trade deal’, joint media release, 1 October 2021.
[18]. Justin
Brown, ‘Australia-India
trade deal: an early harvest or cherry picking?’, The Interpreter,
21 September 2022. See also Kiran Sharma, ‘India-Australia Trade Pact Pushes Back Against
"Panda in the Room"’, Nikkei Asia, 10 April 2022.
[19]. United
States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), The
Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement - Raises
Challenges for US-India Food and Agricultural Products Trade, (US: FAS,
4 May 2022), 3.
[20]. Scott
Morrison (Prime Minister) and Dan Tehan (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment), ‘Historic Trade Deal with India’, media release, 2 April 2022.
[21]. [2022] ATNIA 6,
Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement.
[22]. DFAT,
Answers to Questions on Notice to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India
Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, 14 October 2022, Question
003-14.
[23]. Joint
Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), Australia-India Economic Cooperation
and Trade Agreement, inquiry
homepage.
[24]. Australia-India
Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, inquiry
homepage.
[25]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Selection of Bills, Report,
6, 2022, 26 October 2022.
[26]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Scrutiny
Digest, 6, 2022, 26 October 2022: 54.
[27]. Kevin
Hogan, ‘Labor
Must Prioritise Our Trade Agreements’, media release, 18 October 2022.
[28]. For
example, Amazon Web Services, Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 11), n.d., 1; Australian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 9), 19 August 2022, 1; Business Council of
Australia, Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 12), August 2022, 3; Meat & Livestock
Australia, Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 8), 19 August 2022, 1.
[29]. Group
of Eight Australia, Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 10), 22 August 2022, 2–3.
[30]. Business
Council of Australia, Submission,
3.
[31]. Business
Council of Australia, Submission,
5–6.
[32]. FAS,
The
Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, 3.
[33]. Spirits
and Cocktails Australia and the Australian Distillers’ Association, Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 16), 9 September 2022, 1.
[34]. Byron
Hodkinson (Public Affairs Manager, Pernod Ricard Winemakers), Evidence
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, 13 October 2022, 16.
[35]. Queensland
Canegrowers Association Ltd, Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 2), 15 August 2022, 2.
[36]. Australian
Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Submission
to JSCOT, Inquiry into the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade
Agreement, (Submission no. 14), 26 August 2022, 2.
[37]. ACTU,
Submission
to JSCOT, 4–5.
[38]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Customs Bill, 2; Explanatory
Memorandum, Customs Tariff Bill, 2.
[39]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Taxation Bill, 1.
[40]. The
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found at pages 21–23 of the
Explanatory
Memorandum to the Customs Bill; pages 14–15 of the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Tariff Bill and page 9 of the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Taxation Bill.
[41]. ‘What
are Rules of Origin and how do they apply to Free Trade Agreements and tariffs?’,
Australian Trade and Investment Commission, n.d.
[42]. ‘Exporter's
and importer's responsibilities’, International Trade Centre, n.d.; ‘Certificates
of Origin’, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, n.d.
[43]. Proposed
subsection 153ZMN(3) requires the goods to have undergone a change in
tariff classification, to satisfy the value content requirements prescribed by
the Regulations and that the final production process for the manufacture of
the goods to have taken place in India.
[44]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Customs Tariff Bill, 2.
[45]. See
Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Section
2A (Notes for Specific Tariff Schedule of India) and paragraphs 4 and 5 of Part
2A-1 (Notes for Schedule of Australia).
[46]. See
Australia’s
Letter to India – Taxation and India’s
Letter to Australia – Taxation.
[47]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Taxation Bill, 4; [2002]
ATNIA 6, 11.
[48]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Taxation Bill, 5.
[49]. Amita
Batra, ‘A
First for India and a Chance to Trade Up with Australia’, The
Interpreter, 21 April 2022.
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