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senate vote 2021-10-21#9
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2021-11-05 11:10:43
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Title
Bills — Customs Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021, Customs Tariff Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021- Customs Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021 and another - Second Reading - Agree with bills' main idea
Description
<p class="speaker">Michaelia Cash</p><p>Mr Acting Deputy President, I draw your attention to the state of the chamber.</p><p class="italic"><i>(Quorum formed)</i></p> <p class="speaker">Amanda Stoker</p><p>I thank all for their contributions to the debate on the Customs Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021. The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, agreement in November 2020, by Australia and 14 other countries, signalled a shared commitment to opening up new trade and investment opportunities and support for rules based trading arrangements. Ratification of RCEP by the government would deliver significant benefits for Australia and for Australians. RCEP brings together in a single economic framework nine of Australia's top 15 trading partners, which together account for nearly 60 per cent of our trade and about two-thirds of our exports. The amendments to the Customs Act, and the related amendments to be made to the Customs Tariff Act, are required to implement the RCEP agreement. These amendments provide the rules that allow importers to determine if their goods qualify for a preferential tariff treatment. This agreement will lock in market access and address non-tariff barriers, creating significant new trade and investment opportunities for Australia across the Indo-Pacific region. It will also establish rules that provide greater certainty and improve the business environment across the region. I commend the bill to the Senate.</p> <p class="speaker">James McGrath</p><p>The question is that the bills be read a second time.</p><p></p><p></p> -
- The majority voted in favour of a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2021-10-21.147.2) to agree with the main idea of the following two bills:
- * the [Customs Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6756); and
- * the [Customs Tariff Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6757).
- In parliamentary jargon, the majority voted to read these bills for a [second time](https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/bills-and-laws/making-a-law-in-the-australian-parliament/).
- ### What is the main idea of these bills?
- According to the [bills digest](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2122a/22bd024):
- > *The purpose of the two Bills is to amend the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to implement Australia’s commitments under the [Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Comprehensive_Economic_Partnership).*
- >
- > *Two separate Bills are needed in order to comply with the Australian constitutional requirement that ‘laws imposing duties of customs shall deal with duties of customs only’ and provisions regarding other matters must be dealt with separately. As such, the Customs Act sets out the broad administrative rules regarding the export and import of goods, while the Customs Tariff Act focuses exclusively on the tariff/customs duty rates applicable to imported goods.*
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