Customs’ new regulations repeal outdated and redundant provisions and are ‘easier’
airCargo #236 archive stories
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
AS signalled in our daily e-news service and weekly e-newsletters, two significant new Customs regulations came into effect on April 1, tidying up cobwebby predecessors that date back to 1926.
The Australian Customs & Border Protection Service (CBP) has now issued the anticipated notice explaining what they mean to importers, exporters, forwarders and brokers.
What are known as ‘exposure drafts’ of Customs Regulation 2015 (2015 Regulation) and Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 (International Obligations Regulation) were published earlier in the year.
Alison Neil, acting assistant secretary for CBP’s Customs and Industry branch said they repeal redundant provisions, simplify language and restructure provisions that were difficult to navigate in the 1926 regulations.
The regulations had to be reworked for a constitutional reason, too. The Legislative Instruments Act 2003 – known rather whimsically as LIA – provides that all legislative instruments, other than exempt instruments, progressively sunset according to a pre-determined schedule.
“The purpose of this is to ensure that a suitable review mechanism exists so that legislative instruments remain relevant, necessary and fit for purpose,” said Neil.
In the case of the Customs regulations, they were due to go down with the sun on April 1, so action was essential.
They are not hugely different to their predecessors but Neil points out they have a “different look and feel”.
CBP has prepared explanatory guides to help users become comfortable with them.
Neil explained that if industry is applying for a refund of customs import duty, the refund reason codes provided in the ICS remain the same for now.
“You should continue to use these when applying for a refund through either the ICS or a manual application form. However, it is important that you note that the refund reason codes are no longer a shorthand for the location of a refund reason in a particular paragraph in the regulation. The new section numbering means the location of the refund reason types within the new regulations differ from their location within the 1926 regulations.” More detail is given in a fact sheet available online.
Some transitional provisions are in place to ensure the crossover is seamless.
The Customs notice gives as an example the payment of a warehouse licence fee under section 50B of the 1926 regulations. That will be taken to have been paid in accordance with regulation 37 of the 2015 regulations.
Forms and statements approved under the old regulations will similarly transition into the new regime under an umbrella of benevolent acceptance. Where forms and statements contain references to the 1926 regulations, CBP expects users will have little difficulty in coping with the temporary duality, simply by using good sense.
Neil said: “We are currently reviewing this material and will be making the appropriate changes over time”.
Customs’ new regulations repeal outdated and redundant provisions and are ‘easier’
airCargo #236 archive stories
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
AS signalled in our daily e-news service and weekly e-newsletters, two significant new Customs regulations came into effect on April 1, tidying up cobwebby predecessors that date back to 1926.
The Australian Customs & Border Protection Service (CBP) has now issued the anticipated notice explaining what they mean to importers, exporters, forwarders and brokers.
What are known as ‘exposure drafts’ of Customs Regulation 2015 (2015 Regulation) and Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 (International Obligations Regulation) were published earlier in the year.
Alison Neil, acting assistant secretary for CBP’s Customs and Industry branch said they repeal redundant provisions, simplify language and restructure provisions that were difficult to navigate in the 1926 regulations.
The regulations had to be reworked for a constitutional reason, too. The Legislative Instruments Act 2003 – known rather whimsically as LIA – provides that all legislative instruments, other than exempt instruments, progressively sunset according to a pre-determined schedule.
“The purpose of this is to ensure that a suitable review mechanism exists so that legislative instruments remain relevant, necessary and fit for purpose,” said Neil.
In the case of the Customs regulations, they were due to go down with the sun on April 1, so action was essential.
They are not hugely different to their predecessors but Neil points out they have a “different look and feel”.
CBP has prepared explanatory guides to help users become comfortable with them.
Neil explained that if industry is applying for a refund of customs import duty, the refund reason codes provided in the ICS remain the same for now.
“You should continue to use these when applying for a refund through either the ICS or a manual application form. However, it is important that you note that the refund reason codes are no longer a shorthand for the location of a refund reason in a particular paragraph in the regulation. The new section numbering means the location of the refund reason types within the new regulations differ from their location within the 1926 regulations.” More detail is given in a fact sheet available online.
Some transitional provisions are in place to ensure the crossover is seamless.
The Customs notice gives as an example the payment of a warehouse licence fee under section 50B of the 1926 regulations. That will be taken to have been paid in accordance with regulation 37 of the 2015 regulations.
Forms and statements approved under the old regulations will similarly transition into the new regime under an umbrella of benevolent acceptance. Where forms and statements contain references to the 1926 regulations, CBP expects users will have little difficulty in coping with the temporary duality, simply by using good sense.
Neil said: “We are currently reviewing this material and will be making the appropriate changes over time”.
What are known as ‘exposure drafts’ of Customs Regulation 2015 (2015 Regulation) and Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 (International Obligations Regulation) were published earlier in the year.
