House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Customs and Consumer Affairs, the Hon. Warren Truss MP)

OUTLINE

The principal purpose of this Bill is to insert into the Excise Tariff Act 1921 (the Act) various amendments contained in Excise Tariff Proposals tabled in the House of Representatives during 1998.

The Bill incorporates into the Act Excise Tariff Proposals Nos. 1 and 2 of 1998, the effect of which:

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reduce the rate of duty on aviation gasoline ("avgas") from 3 July 1997, following a decision by the Government not to increase (apart from Consumer Price Index increases) general aviations contribution to the funding of Airservices Australia (Airservices) derived by means of an excise on avgas; and

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correct technical defects identified in the structure of Item 11 of the Schedule to the Act (the Tariff ) inserted by the Excise Tariff (Fuel Rates Amendments) Act 1997 , which is referred to throughout this explanatory memorandum as the Amendment Act.

The Bill also makes two technical amendments to the Act, which:

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make clear that changes made by the Amendment Act to the way crude oil is assessed for excise duty do not create any new entitlement to enter crude oil at a lesser, concessional rate; and

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delete a reference in the Tariff to item 3, which is no longer current.