Customs Act 1901

PART III - CUSTOMS CONTROL EXAMINATION AND SECURITIES GENERALLY  

SECTION 30A   EXEMPTIONS UNDER TORRES STRAIT TREATY  

30A(1)    
In this section -

"area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone"
means an area in respect of which a notice is in force under subsection (2);

"Australian place"
means a place in Australia that is in the Protected Zone or in an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone;

"Papua New Guinea place"
means a place in Papua New Guinea that is in the Protected Zone or in an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone;

"Protected Zone"
means the zone established under Article 10 of the Torres Strait Treaty, being the area bounded by the line described in Annex 9 to that treaty;

"Protected Zone ship"
means a ship that is owned or operated by a traditional inhabitant;

"Torres Strait Treaty"
means the treaty between Australia and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea that was signed at Sydney on 18 December 1978;

"traditional activities"
has the same meaning as in the Torres Strait Treaty;

"traditional inhabitants"
has the same meaning as in the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984 .

30A(2)    

The Comptroller-General of Customs may, by notice published in the Gazette , declare an area adjacent to the Protected Zone to be an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone for the purposes of this section.

30A(3)    

The Comptroller-General of Customs may, by notice published in the Gazette , exempt, subject to such conditions (if any) as are specified in the notice, from so many of the provisions of the Customs Acts as are specified in the notice -

(a) any Protected Zone ship that arrives at an Australian place on a voyage from a Papua New Guinea place or that leaves an Australian place on a voyage to a Papua New Guinea place, being a ship -

(i) on board which there is at least one traditional inhabitant who is undertaking that voyage in connection with the performance of traditional activities in the Protected Zone or in an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone; and

(ii) no person on board which is a person other than -

(A) a person referred to in subparagraph (i); or

(B) an employee of the Commonwealth, of Queensland or of Papua New Guinea or of an authority of the Commonwealth, of Queensland or of Papua New Guinea who is undertaking that voyage in connection with the performance of his or her duties;

(b) the entry into Australia, or the departure from Australia, of persons on board a ship of the kind referred to in paragraph (a); or

(c) the importation into Australia, or the exportation from Australia, of goods on board a ship of the kind referred to in paragraph (a), being goods that -

(i) are owned by, or are under the control of, a traditional inhabitant who is on board that ship and have been used, are being used or are intended to be used by him or her in connection with the performance of traditional activities in the Protected Zone or in an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone; or

(ii) are the personal belongings of a person referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii); or

(iii) are stores for the use of the passengers or crew of that ship or for the service of that ship.

30A(4)    

Where -

(a) the master of a ship (not being a ship to which an exemption under subsection (3) applies) or the pilot of an aircraft proposes to take that ship or aircraft, as the case may be, on a voyage or flight, as the case may be, from an Australian place to a Papua New Guinea place or from a Papua New Guinea place to an Australian place; and

(b) that voyage or flight, as the case may be -

(i) will be undertaken by at least one person who is a traditional inhabitant for purposes connected with the performance of traditional activities in the Protected Zone or in an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone; and

(ii) will not be undertaken by a person other than -

(A) a person referred to in subparagraph (i);

(B) an employee of the Commonwealth, of Queensland or of Papua New Guinea or of an authority of the Commonwealth, of Queensland or of Papua New Guinea who will be undertaking that voyage or flight in connection with the performance of his or her duties; or

(C) the master of the ship or a member of the crew of the ship or the pilot of the aircraft or a member of the crew of the aircraft, as the case may be,

the master of the ship or the pilot of the aircraft, as the case may be, may, by notice in writing given to the Comptroller-General of Customs setting out such information as is prescribed, request the Comptroller-General of Customs to grant an exemption under subsection (5) in relation to the voyage or flight, as the case may be.

30A(5)    

The Comptroller-General of Customs may, in his or her discretion, after receiving an application under subsection (4) in relation to a proposed voyage by a ship or a proposed flight by an aircraft, by notice in writing given to the person who made the application, exempt, subject to such conditions (if any) as are specified in the notice, from so many of the provisions of the Customs Acts as are specified in the notice -

(a) the entry into Australia, or the departure from Australia, of that ship or aircraft, as the case may be, in the course of that voyage or flight, as the case may be; and

(b) the entry into Australia, or the departure from Australia, of any person on board that ship or aircraft, as the case may be, in the course of that voyage or flight, as the case may be; and

(c) the importation into Australia, or the exportation from Australia, of goods, or goods included in a class of goods specified in the notice, on board that ship during that voyage or on board that aircraft during that flight, as the case may be, being goods that -

(i) are owned by, or are under the control of, a traditional inhabitant who is on board that ship or aircraft, as the case may be, and have been used, are being used or are intended to be used by him or her in connection with the performance of traditional activities in the Protected Zone or in an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone; or

(ii) are the personal belongings of a person who is on board that ship or aircraft, as the case may be, in the course of that voyage or flight, as the case may be; or

(iii) are stores for the use of the passengers or crew of that ship or aircraft, as the case may be, or for the service of that ship or aircraft, as the case may be.

30A(6)    
Where -

(a) under subsections (3) or (5), the arrival at a place in Australia of a ship, an aircraft or a person, or the importation into Australia of goods, is exempt from any provisions of the Customs Acts; and

(b) that ship, aircraft or person arrives at, or those goods are taken to, a place in Australia that is not in the Protected Zone or in an area in the vicinity of the Protected Zone,

the Customs Acts (including the provisions referred to in paragraph (a)) apply in relation to the arrival of that ship, aircraft or person at, or the taking of those goods to, the place referred to in paragraph (b) as if that ship, aircraft or person had arrived at that place, or those goods had been taken to that place, as the case may be, from a place outside Australia.