Customs Legislation Amendment (Application of International Trade Modernisation and Other Measures) Act 2004 (25 of 2004)

Schedule 2   Other amendments

Customs Act 1901

17   After Division 1 of Part VIII

Insert:

Division 1AA - Calculation of duty on certain alcoholic beverages

153AA Meaning of alcoholic beverage

In this Division:

alcoholic beverage has the meaning given by the regulations.

153AB Customs duty to be paid according to labelled alcoholic strength of prescribed alcoholic beverages

(1) If:

(a) an alcoholic beverage is entered for home consumption or delivered into home consumption in accordance with a permission given under section 69; and

(b) the percentage by volume of the alcoholic content of the beverage indicated on the beverage’s label exceeds the actual percentage by volume of the alcoholic content of the beverage;

customs duty is to be charged according to the percentage by volume of alcoholic content indicated on the label.

(2) If:

(a) an alcoholic beverage is entered for or delivered into home consumption in a labelled form and an unlabelled form; and

(b) subsection (1) applies to the beverage in its labelled form;

then subsection (1) applies to the beverage in its unlabelled form as if it had been labelled and the label had indicated the same percentage by volume of alcoholic content as is indicated on the beverage in its labelled form.

153AC Rules for working out strength of prescribed alcoholic beverages

(1) The CEO may, by instrument in writing, determine, in relation to an alcoholic beverage included in a class of alcoholic beverages, rules for working out the percentage by volume of alcohol in the beverage.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), rules determined by the CEO for working out the percentage by volume of alcohol in an alcoholic beverage:

(a) may specify sampling methods; and

(b) may, for the purposes of working out the customs duty payable, permit minor variations between the nominated or labelled volume of alcohol in the beverage and the actual volume of alcohol in the beverage so as to provide for unavoidable variations directly attributable to the manufacturing process.

(3) The CEO may make different determinations for alcoholic beverages included in different classes of alcoholic beverages.

(4) A determination applicable to an alcoholic beverage included in a class of alcoholic beverages applies only to an alcoholic beverage in that class that is entered for, or delivered into, home consumption on or after the making of the determination.

(5) The CEO makes a determination public:

(a) by publishing it; and

(b) by publishing notice of it in the Gazette.

(6) The notice in the Gazette must include a brief description of the contents of the determination.

(7) The determination is made at the later of the time when it is published and the time when notice of it is published in the Gazette.

153AD Obscuration

If, in the opinion of the Collector, the strength of any spirits cannot immediately be accurately ascertained by application of the rules (if any) made for that purpose under section 153AC, the strength may be ascertained after distillation or in any prescribed manner.