Consultation and Legislation

1 Legislation administered by Customs

Customs work involves a range of legislation. The following links are provided to the most commonly used legislation:

For up to date information on the Customs Tariff, refer to the Customs Tariff web page.

2 Other legislation

Customs is also involved in a range of work that involves legislation administered by other Government Departments. For example, some Customs officers perform functions provided for in the Migration Act 1958, which is administered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

The Commonwealth maintains a separate website dedicated to legislation at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/. This website can be used to find Acts, Regulations and other legislative instruments.

3 Consultation

Customs is committed to consulting with industry when preparing its legislation program and in relation to proposed legislation which may have an impact on commercial operations. Consultation will be subject to sensitivities and deadlines.

Customs will consult with industry in accordance with the policies and procedures sets out in the Practice Statement: Industry Engagement in the Development of Customs Legislation.

The following is a list of the latest live Customs consultations. Click on the links below to view and download the documents.

Open for consultation

Customs and Border Protection is proposing to amend the Customs Regulations 1926 (the Customs Regulations). The proposed Amendment Regulations make three changes to the Customs Regulations as part of implementing the Customs Amendment (Export Controls and Other Measures) Act 2011 and two other minor changes.

Further details on the changes can be found in the Australian Customs and Border Protection Notice 2011/46 http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/11024ACBPNexposuredraftregulations.pdf

Submissions can be made to traderevenuepolicy@customs.gov.au and close on 8th November.

Customs Amendment Regulations 2011

Closed for consultation

Customs and Border Protection conducted a consultation process to seek feedback and input on the implementation of the Government’s election commitment on sharpening weapons controls and is currently reviewing submissions received in response to the consultation process.

4 Bills before the Parliament

There are currently 3 Customs and Border Protection Bills before the Parliament. These are

Customs Amendment (Anti-dumping Measures) 2011
Customs Amendment (Anti-dumping Improvements) 2011
Customs Amendment (New Zealand Rules of Origin) 2011

A list of all bills, including status, is available on the BillsNet website.

5 Customs Annual Regulatory Plan

Each Commonwealth Government agency that has responsibility for business regulation is required to publish an annual regulatory plan on its website early in each financial year outlining recent changes to existing legislation and planned activities that could lead to regulatory change.

Regulatory plans provide business operators, business representatives and the public with access to information about changes to Australian Government business regulation.

How up-to-date is information in Customs annual regulatory plan?

The information relating to Customs Annual Regulatory Plan is current as at 29 July 2011. Readers should note that the Plan is periodically updated to reflect the latest legislative change information/activities.