Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Materiel) Share this | Hansard source

Again on behalf of Senator Brandis I rise to speak to the Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Harmonized System Changes) Bill 2011. The bill amends the Customs Tariff Act 1995, as a result of the fourth review by the World Customs Organisation of the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, by effecting changes required by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations relating to food security, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, and the Montreal protocol relating to halogenated hydrocarbons.

The harmonised system is a system of goods classification based on six-digit codes. This six-digit classification uniquely identifies all traded goods and commodities and is uniform across all countries that have adopted the harmonised system. The harmonised system multipurpose goods classification is used as the foundation for customs tariffs and for the collection of international trade statistics. It comprises about 5,000 commodity groups, each identified by a six-digit code arranged in a logical structure with well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification. Australia is a signatory to the harmonised system. Since 1988, the harmonised system has formed the basis of Australia's commodity classifications for traded goods, both imports and exports.

The World Customs Organisation, the administering body, reassesses the harmonised system every five years to reflect changes in industry practice, technological advances and variations in international trade patterns. The World Customs Organisation completed the fourth review of the harmonised system in June 2010.

The harmonised system requires Australia, along with the other countries who are signatories, to apply these changes from 1 January 2012. Accordingly, this bill will make some 800 technical amendments to existing classifications in the Customs Tariff Act.

The amendments concentrate predominantly on environmental and social issues that are of global concern, including the use of the harmonised system for identifying goods of specific importance to the food security program of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

The harmonised system changes will also create new subheadings for particular chemicals controlled under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, known as the Rotterdam convention, and for ozone-depleting substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, known as the Montreal protocol.

Other amendments from the fourth review of the harmonised system have resulted from changes in international trade patterns. These include deleting more than 40 subheadings due to the low volume of trade in specific products, separately identifying certain commodities in either existing or new headings and reflecting advances in technology where possible. Finally, a number of amendments aim to clarify texts to ensure uniform application of the harmonised system of classifications.

The coalition supports the passage of this bill, which gives effect to the harmonised system changes while maintaining existing levels of tariff protection and margins of tariff preference. The coalition supports efforts at progressing international trade which deliver the greatest benefit to the global economy and to Australia. I commend the bill to the Senate.