CUSTOMS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 66

CUSTOMS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 66

STATUTORY RULES 1993 No. 66

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Science and Small Business

Customs Act 1901

Customs Regulations (Amendment)

Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that:

"(1)       The Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with this Act prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed ... for giving effect to this Act or for the conduct of any business relating to the Customs . ..."

The Regulations amend the Customs Regulations to allow handkerchiefs to be imported dutyfree via a Tariff Concession Order (TCO).

Part XVA of the Act provides for the duty-free entry of certain goods via a TCO where it is established that the duty free entry of those goods is not likely to have a significant adverse effect on the market for Australian made substitutable goods. Section 269SJ of the Act provides that the Comptroller must not make a TCO in respect of goods declared by the regulations to be goods to which a TCO should not extend.

Schedule 2 to the Customs Regulations lists goods in respect of which TCOs must not be made under Part XVA of the Act. It does this by specifying the tariff heading or subheading of such goods in Column 2 of Schedule 2. Column 3 of Schedule 2 provides a facility to list goods within the restricted tariff class for which a TCO might be made.

Prior to 1 January 1988 handkerchiefs were classified to tariff heading 6105 and were imported at a free rate of duty under a TCO. On 1 January 1988 Australia adopted the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, under which handkerchiefs are classified to heading 6213.

Item 27 of Schedule 2 to the Customs Regulations covers tariff headings 6212 to 6215, therefore handkerchiefs were inadvertently made ineligible for duty free importation via a TCO.

On 6 December 1992 the Government decided to amend the Customs Regulations to remove handkerchiefs from the class of goods excluded from eligibility for a TCO and for that amendment to take effect from 1 January 1988.

Regulation 3 amends Schedule 2 to add "Handkerchiefs" to Column 3 of item 27 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, thereby removing handkerchiefs from the class of goods for which a TCO can not be made.

The Regulations are expressed to commence on 1 January 1988 to coincide with the date on which the Harmonised Tariff was adopted and to maintain the policy always intended by the Government (regulation 1 refers). This retrospectivity does not offend subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 as it confers a benefit on importers of handkerchiefs (making such goods retrospectively eligible for duty free entry via a TCO) and does not impose any liabilities on any person.