2004-2005-2006-2007 The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia THE SENATE Presented and read a first time Australian Postal Corporation Amendment (Quarantine Inspection and Other Measures) Bill 2007 No. , 2007 (Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) A Bill for an Act to amend the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989, and for related purposes [Page Break] 1 Short title ........................................................................................... 1 2 Commencement ................................................................................. 1 3 Schedule(s) ........................................................................................ 2 Schedule 1--Amendments commencing on Proclamation 3 Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 3 Schedule 2--Amendments commencing on Royal Assent 14 Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 14 [Page Break] 2 Corporation Act 1989, and for related purposes 3 The Parliament of Australia enacts: 4 1 Short title 5 This Act may be cited as the Australian Postal Corporation 6 Amendment (Quarantine Inspection and Other Measures) Act 7 2007. 8 2 Commencement 9 (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table 10 commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with 11 column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect 12 according to its terms. 13 Australian Postal Corporation Amendment (Quarantine Inspection and Other Measures) Bill 2007 No. , 2007 1 [Page Break] Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Provision(s) Commencement Date/Details 1. Sections 1 to 3 The day on which this Act receives the and anything in Royal Assent. this Act not elsewhere covered by this table 2. Schedule 1 A single day to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provision(s) do not commence within the period of 6 months beginning on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent, they commence on the first day after the end of that period. 3. Schedule 2 The day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. 1 Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally 2 passed by both Houses of the Parliament and assented to. It will not be 3 expanded to deal with provisions inserted in this Act after assent. 4 (2) Column 3 of the table contains additional information that is not 5 part of this Act. Information in this column may be added to or 6 edited in any published version of this Act. 7 3 Schedule(s) 8 Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or 9 repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule 10 concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect 11 according to its terms. [Page Break] 2 Schedule 1--Amendments commencing on 3 Proclamation 4 5 Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 6 1 Section 90E 7 Insert: 8 business day means a day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or a 9 public holiday in the place concerned. 10 2 Section 90E 11 Insert: 12 compliance agency means any of the following: 13 (a) the Australian Customs Service; 14 (b) the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service; 15 (c) an entity for which a quarantine inspection officer of a 16 prescribed State/Territory exercises quarantine powers or 17 performs quarantine functions; 18 (d) a consumer protection agency; 19 (e) another prescribed agency. 20 3 Section 90E 21 Insert: 22 consumer protection agency means any of the following: 23 (a) the ACCC; 24 (b) the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; 25 (c) the Office of Fair Trading of New South Wales; 26 (d) the Office of Fair Trading and Business Affairs of Victoria; 27 (e) the Department of Fair Trading of Queensland; 28 (f) the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection of 29 Western Australia; 30 (g) the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs of South 31 Australia; [Page Break] 2 Tasmania; 3 (i) the Office of Fair Trading of the Australian Capital Territory; 4 (j) the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs of the Northern 5 Territory; 6 (k) another prescribed agency. 7 4 Section 90E 8 Insert: 9 consumer protection law means: 10 (a) the Trade Practices Act 1974; or 11 (b) the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 12 2001; or 13 (c) the Corporations Act 2001; or 14 (d) a State Fair Trading Act; or 15 (e) a State Sale of Goods Act; or 16 (f) another prescribed Act. 17 5 Section 90E 18 Insert: 19 prescribed State/Territory means any of the following that is 20 prescribed by regulations: 21 (a) a State; 22 (b) the Australian Capital Territory; 23 (c) the Northern Territory. 24 6 Section 90E 25 Insert: 26 quarantine inspection officer of a prescribed State/Territory 27 means a person who exercises quarantine powers or performs 28 quarantine functions under a law of the prescribed State/Territory. 29 7 Section 90E 30 Insert: 31 quarantine material means anything in relation to which a 32 quarantine inspection officer of a prescribed State/Territory may [Page Break] 2 a law of the prescribed State/Territory. 3 8 Section 90E 4 Insert: 5 scam mail means an article that it is reasonable to suspect is one of 6 a batch sent in breach of a consumer protection law. 7 9 Section 90E 8 Insert: 9 State Fair Trading Act means the following Acts for each State 10 and Territory or another prescribed Act: 11 Item State or Territory Act 1 New South Wales Fair Trading Act 1987 2 Victoria Fair Trading Act 1999 3 Queensland Fair Trading Act 1989 4 South Australia Fair Trading Act 1987 5 Western Australia Fair Trading Act 1987 6 Tasmania Fair Trading Act 1990 7 Northern Territory Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act 1990 8 Australian Capital Territory Fair Trading Act 1992 12 10 Section 90E 13 Insert: 14 State Sale of Goods Act means the following Acts for each State 15 and Territory or another prescribed Act: 16 Item State or Territory Act 1 New South Wales Sale of Goods Act 1923 2 Victoria Goods Act 1958 3 Queensland Sale of Goods Act 1896 4 South Australia Sale of Goods Act 1895 [Page Break] 5 Western Australia Sale of Goods Act 1895 6 Tasmania Sale of Goods Act 1896 7 Northern Territory Sale of Goods Act 1972 8 Australian Capital Territory Sale of Goods Act 1954 1 11 Section 90E 2 Insert: 3 Universal Postal Union means the specialised agency of the 4 United Nations established in accordance with Articles 57 and 63 5 of the United Nations Charter. 6 12 Section 90E 7 Insert: 8 UPU instrument means any Act, Additional Protocol, regulation, 9 agreement, resolution, decision, recommendation, formal opinion 10 or other instrument made under the authority of the Congress of the 11 Universal Postal Union. 12 13 At the end of section 90J 13 Add: 14 Disclosure of suspicions to consumer protection agencies 15 (10) The person may disclose the information to one or more consumer 16 protection agencies if: 17 (a) the person is an authorised discloser; and 18 (b) the information is either: 19 (i) a reasonable suspicion that an article in the course of 20 post consists of, or contains, scam mail; or 21 (ii) any information or document on the basis of which the 22 person forms a reasonable suspicion that an article in the 23 course of post consists of, or contains, scam mail. 24 Disclosure in circumstances permitted by UPU instrument 25 (11) The person may disclose the information if the disclosure is: 26 (a) to a postal administration of a foreign country; and [Page Break] 2 accordance with that instrument. 3 14 Paragraph 90N(1)(a) 4 Omit "90T", substitute "90U or section 90UB". 5 15 After section 90T 6 Insert: 7 90U Articles consisting of, or containing, quarantine material 8 (1) This section applies if: 9 (a) the article is in the course of post to a prescribed 10 State/Territory from a place within Australia but outside the 11 prescribed State/Territory; and 12 (b) a quarantine inspection officer of the prescribed 13 State/Territory has reasonable grounds for believing that the 14 article consists of, or contains, quarantine material in relation 15 to the prescribed State/Territory. 16 (2) However, this section does not apply if the carriage of the article 17 mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) is undertaken by Australia Post 18 engaging in the reserved services. 19 (3) The quarantine inspection officer may request an authorised 20 examiner to open the article. 21 (4) If such a request is made, the authorised examiner may remove the 22 article from the normal course of carriage and open the article in 23 the presence of the quarantine inspection officer, following the 24 procedures (if any) that are prescribed for the purposes of this 25 section. 26 (5) The quarantine inspection officer may then examine the article to 27 check whether it consists of, or contains, quarantine material. 28 (6) Subject to section 90X, if the article is found not to consist of, or 29 contain, quarantine material, the authorised examiner must close up 30 the article and return it to the normal course of carriage, following 31 the procedures (if any) that are prescribed for the purposes of this 32 section. [Page Break] 2 contain, quarantine material: 3 (a) the article and its contents must be dealt with in accordance 4 with the relevant law of the prescribed State/Territory or the 5 Commonwealth, as the case requires; and 6 (b) the quarantine inspection officer must, as soon as is 7 practicable after examination of the article, cause written 8 notice to be given to the intended recipient and the sender (if 9 the sender's name and address is ascertainable): 10 (i) advising that the article has been removed from the 11 normal course of carriage; and 12 (ii) advising that the article will be dealt with in accordance 13 with the relevant law of the prescribed State/Territory or 14 the Commonwealth, as the case requires; and 15 (iii) stating what the article contained. 16 (8) Regulations may be made for the purposes of this subsection that 17 determine the procedure: 18 (a) for removing an article from the normal course of carriage 19 for the purpose of its examination by a quarantine inspection 20 officer; and 21 (b) for the return of an article to the normal course of carriage. 22 (9) A prescribed person or body must establish and maintain, in 23 accordance with regulations made for the purposes of this 24 subsection, a record setting out, in respect of each article that has 25 been found to consist of, or contain, quarantine material: 26 (a) particulars of the article; and 27 (b) particulars of the nature of the examination of the article and 28 its contents; and 29 (c) whether the article and its contents were, following the 30 examination, dealt with according to the relevant law of the 31 prescribed State/Territory or the Commonwealth, or returned 32 to the normal course of carriage. 33 (10) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (9) must specify: 34 (a) the place or places at which the record referred to in that 35 subsection is required to be established and maintained; and 36 (b) the manner in which the record is to be kept; and 37 (c) the uses that can be made of information contained in the 38 record. [Page Break] 2 Removing scam mail on Australia Post's initiative 3 (1) Australia Post may remove a batch of articles from the normal 4 course of carriage if it is reasonable to suspect that the batch 5 consists of, or contains, scam mail. 6 (2) If a batch of articles is removed from the normal course of carriage 7 under subsection (1), Australia Post must notify one or more of the 8 following agencies of its removal, as soon as is practicable after its 9 removal: 10 (a) the ACCC; 11 (b) the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; 12 (c) the consumer protection agency for the State or Territory in 13 which the batch of articles has been removed from the 14 normal course of carriage; 15 (d) another agency that is prescribed by regulations made for the 16 purposes of the definition of consumer protection agency in 17 section 90E. 18 Removing scam mail on request of consumer protection agencies 19 (3) Australia Post may remove batches of articles of a particular kind 20 from the normal course of carriage if: 21 (a) a consumer protection agency gives written notice to 22 Australia Post that: 23 (i) articles of that kind may be in the course of post; and 24 (ii) the articles may consist of, or contain, scam mail; and 25 (b) the consumer protection agency provides Australia Post with 26 a means of identifying the articles. 27 (4) If a batch of articles is removed from the normal course of carriage 28 on the request of a consumer protection agency under 29 subsection (3), Australia Post must notify the consumer protection 30 agency of its removal as soon as is practicable after its removal. 31 90UB Opening and examining scam mail 32 (1) This section applies if: 33 (a) a batch of articles has been removed from the normal course 34 of carriage under section 90UA; and [Page Break] 2 removal. 3 (2) The consumer protection agency may: 4 (a) make arrangements with Australia Post for access to the 5 batch of articles; and 6 (b) open and examine one or more articles within the batch. 7 (3) If no consumer protection agency opens and examines an article 8 within a batch of articles within the decision period, Australia Post 9 must return the batch to the normal course of carriage, following 10 the procedures (if any) that are prescribed for the purposes of this 11 section. 12 (4) Subsection (3) has effect subject to section 90X. 13 (5) In opening and examining articles under subsection (2), a 14 consumer protection agency must comply with any law of the 15 Commonwealth or of the State or Territory that applies to the 16 consumer protection agency and that relates to the performance of 17 functions or the exercise of powers by the consumer protection 18 agency when dealing with the articles. 19 (6) In this section: 20 decision period means the period of 10 business days, or such 21 longer period as is prescribed, starting on the last day on which a 22 consumer protection agency is notified under section 90UA of the 23 removal of the batch of articles from the normal course of carriage. 24 90UC Dealing with or returning scam mail 25 (1) If, after opening and examining one or more articles within a batch 26 of articles under section 90UB, a consumer protection agency 27 believes on reasonable grounds that the batch consists of, or 28 contains, scam mail, the agency must deal with the articles within 29 the batch in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth or of 30 the State or Territory applicable to the articles. 31 (2) If the consumer protection agency believes on reasonable grounds 32 that the article or articles that have been opened by the consumer 33 protection agency do not consist of, or contain, scam mail, the 34 consumer protection agency must: [Page Break] 2 the consumer protection agency; and 3 (b) return the batch, as soon as is practicable, to Australia Post. 4 (3) If the batch is returned to Australia Post, Australia Post must return 5 the batch to the normal course of carriage, following the 6 procedures (if any) that are prescribed for the purposes of this 7 section. 8 (4) Subsections (1) and (3) have effect subject to section 90X. 9 16 Subsection 90V(2) 10 After "Customs officer", insert "or a quarantine inspection officer". 11 17 After subsection 90V(2A) 12 Insert: 13 (2B) If the article is opened and examined by a consumer protection 14 agency under section 90UB, but not dealt with under subsection 15 90UC(1), then, before the article is returned to Australia Post, the 16 consumer protection agency must cause to be endorsed on the 17 cover of the article, or on a label affixed to its cover, a notification 18 that the article has been opened and examined by the consumer 19 protection agency and that explains briefly (by reference to 20 section 90UB or otherwise) the purposes for which the article was 21 opened and examined. 22 18 Subsection 90V(3) 23 Omit "or (2A)", substitute ", (2A) or (2B)". 24 19 Subsection 90ZC(1) 25 After "omitted", insert "to be done". 26 20 Subsection 90ZC(2) 27 Omit all the words after "in good faith" (second occurring), substitute: 28 by: 29 (a) a Customs officer in the exercise or performance, or the 30 purported exercise or performance, of a power or duty under 31 section 90T or of a duty under subsection 90V(2A); or [Page Break] 2 performance, or the purported exercise or performance, of a 3 power or duty under section 90U; or 4 (c) a person acting on behalf of a consumer protection agency in 5 the exercise or performance, or purported exercise or 6 performance, of a power or duty under section 90UB or 7 section 90UC or of a duty under subsection 90V(2B). 8 21 At the end of Division 5 of Part 7B 9 Add: 10 91 Giving Australia Post information about articles removed from 11 the normal course of carriage 12 (1) Australia Post may request a compliance agency to give Australia 13 Post some or all of the following information, in relation to an 14 article: 15 (a) the name and address of the sender of the article; 16 (b) the name and address of the intended recipient of the article; 17 (c) a description of the contents of the article; 18 (d) whether the article was dealt with by the compliance agency 19 and, if so, the reason for dealing with it; 20 (e) any unique identifier on the article; 21 (f) any other information in relation to the article that is 22 prescribed in regulations made for the purposes of this 23 paragraph. 24 (2) The compliance agency may: 25 (a) if the compliance agency has examined the article--comply 26 with the request in full or in part despite any other law; or 27 (b) refuse the request (whether or not the compliance agency has 28 examined the article). 29 22 At the end of paragraphs 102(c) and (d) 30 Add "and". 31 23 After paragraph 102(d) 32 Insert: 33 (da) prescribing Acts for the purposes of the following definitions 34 in section 90E: [Page Break] 2 (ii) State Fair Trading Act; 3 (iii) State Sale of Goods Act; and 4 (db) prescribing agencies for the purposes of the following 5 definitions in section 90E: 6 (i) compliance agency; 7 (ii) consumer protection agency; and 8 (dc) prescribing States and Territories for the purposes of the 9 definition of prescribed State/Territory in section 90E; and 10 (dd) prescribing a period for the purposes of the definition of 11 decision period in subsection 90UB(6); and 12 24 At the end of paragraph 102(e) 13 Add "and". 14 25 Application 15 The amendments made by this Schedule apply to articles in the course 16 of post on the date of commencement of this Schedule, regardless of 17 when the articles commenced being in the course of post. [Page Break] 2 Schedule 2--Amendments commencing on 3 Royal Assent 4 5 Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 6 1 At the end of section 28C 7 Add: 8 (3) Without limiting subsection (1), the prescribed performance 9 standards may relate to methods of determining the level of mail 10 delivery service for a particular area. 11 2 Subsection 28E(1) 12 After "Australia Post must", insert ", unless the Minister determines, by 13 legislative instrument, that it is unnecessary in the circumstances,". 14 3 Section 90E 15 Insert: 16 GST has the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Goods 17 and Services Tax) Act 1999. 18 4 Section 90E 19 Insert: 20 taxable importation has the same meaning as in the A New Tax 21 System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999. 22 5 Section 90E 23 Insert: 24 wine tax has the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Wine 25 Equalisation Tax) Act 1999. 26 6 After subparagraph 90K(3)(b)(i) 27 Insert: 28 (ii) the importation of which into Australia is a taxable 29 importation on which GST is payable; or 30 (iia) on which wine tax is payable; or [Page Break] 2 Insert: 3 (B) the importation of which into Australia is a 4 taxable importation on which GST is payable; 5 or 6 (BA) on which wine tax is payable; or 7 8 Subsection 90S(3) 8 After "(B)", insert ", (BA)". 9 9 Subsection 90S(4) 10 After "(B)", insert ", (BA)". 11 10 Subsection 90S(5) 12 After "(1)(b)(ii)(A)", insert ", (B), (BA)". 13 11 Subsection 90S(5) 14 After "customs duty", insert ", GST, wine tax". 15 12 After subparagraph 90T(5)(b)(i) 16 Insert: 17 (ii) the importation of which into Australia is a taxable 18 importation on which GST is payable; or 19 (iia) on which wine tax is payable; or 20 13 Subsection 90T(6) 21 After "customs duty", insert ", GST, wine tax".