House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Hon Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Home Affairs)

NOTES ON CLAUSES

Clause 1 Short title

1. Clause 1 provides that this Act is the Customs Amendment (Immediate Destruction of Illicit Tobacco) Act 2019.

Clause 2 Commencement

2. Subclause 2(1) provides that each provision of this Act specified in Column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

3. Table item 1 provides that the whole of the Act commences on the day after the Act receives the Royal Assent.

Clause 3 Schedules

4. This clause is the formal enabling provision for the Schedules to the Bill, providing that each Act specified in a Schedule is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items of the Schedule. This Bill amends the Customs Act.

5. This clause also provides that any other items of a Schedule to this Act have effect according to their terms. This is a standard enabling clause for transitional, savings and application items in amending legislation.

Schedule 1 - Amendments

Customs Act 1901

Outline

The Customs Amendment (Collecting Tobacco Duties at the Border) Act 2018 will introduce a new definition of "tobacco products" into subsection 4(1) of the Customs Act 1901 (the Customs Act) with effect from 1 July 2019. This definition will provide that: tobacco products means goods classified to heading 2401, 2402 or 2403 of Schedule 3 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (except goods classified to subheading 2402.90.00 or 2403.99.10 of that Schedule).

Section 206 of the Customs Act allows the Comptroller-General of Customs to cause certain seized goods to be dealt in a manner he or she considers appropriate, including immediate destruction of the goods. Amending subsection 206(2A) to include tobacco products will allow for the disposal of these goods consistent with the treatment of other seized goods. These amendments are necessary to ensure the continued efficiency of border operations following the prescription of tobacco products as prohibited imports under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 from 1 July 2019.

Item 1 Subsection 206(2A) (heading)

6. This item is consequential to item 2. The item would repeal the current heading to subsection 206(2A) "Prohibited psychoactive substances and prohibited serious drug alternatives" and replace this with the new heading "Prohibited psychoactive substances, tobacco products and prohibited serious drug alternatives".

Item 2 Paragraph 206(2A)(b)

7. This item would amend paragraph 206(2A)(b) to insert "tobacco products" after "prohibited psychoactive substance". The effect of this amendment would be to enable the Comptroller-General of Customs to cause seized tobacco products to be dealt in a manner he or she considers appropriate, including immediate destruction of the goods, provided that:

(a)

the goods were seized under a seizure warrant or under subsection 203B(2) or (2A), 203CA(3) or 203CB(2) on the reasonable suspicion that they were a tobacco product that is a prohibited import; and

(b)

the Comptroller-General of Customs is satisfied that the goods are a tobacco product.

If a person's goods are destroyed under these powers, he or she will have the right to recover the market value of the goods at the time they were destroyed, if certain circumstances set out in section 206 are satisfied.