Records for excise equivalent goods

Keeping good records

If you deal in EEGs, you need to know about record keeping for business.

General rules around keeping good records:

• Records must be in English – our staff must be able to read and understand them.
• You need to be able to show us your records if we ask for them.
• We recommend you regularly update the systems and methods used to store your records.

Keeping EEG records

You must keep records for all goods entered into the warehouse for:

• the period that they are stored in your warehouse
• 5 years after the authorised release of goods from the warehouse (in Australia or overseas).

The record-keeping requirements are set out in your licence.

Most records required are those that you would normally use in your business operations. If your records aren't sufficient to meet the requirements, we may direct you to maintain specific records.

For more information on warehouse licences, visit Customs Act 1901 section 82 – Conditions of warehouse licences.

Warehouse EEG records required

Your licence will set out the records and information you need to keep, including:

• Nature 20 warehouse import declarations (N20)
• Nature 30 ex-warehouse import declarations (N30)
• 'authority to deal' information generated when a N30 is finalised
• movement permissions
• remission applications
• details of EEGs used in excise manufacture
• details of LPG and LNG sales when claiming automatic remission.

Your records need to:

• provide a clear audit trail of all incoming and outgoing warehoused goods
• satisfactorily account for all goods that pass through the warehouse
• be consistent with the full import declaration (FID) under which the goods enter and leave your warehouse. Your records should reflect the details included on the document that authorised the movement
• physically track individual items of stock based on the number of the N20 under which they entered the warehouse. Similarly, N30s and weekly settlement returns must refer to the actual N20 number of the goods delivered where use of multiple clearance codes hasn't been approved
• show that an entry or return has been made correctly. This includes documents that come into your possession before, on, or after you make an entry or return.

Records for import or export on behalf of the goods' owner

If you (as a freight forwarder, shipping line, airline, depot or stevedore) have completed the requirements of the Department of Home Affairs, including their operational arm, the Australian Border Force, for the import or export of EEGs on behalf of the owner of the goods, you must keep the following records:

• commercial documents that come into your possession relating to the cargo and its carriage to or from Australia
• evidence of payment made or received (such as letter of credit or telegraphic transfers)
• commercial invoices
• packing lists
• airway bills and bills of lading
• tally sheets
• gate delivery or receipt records
• permits (if applicable).

Keeping consistent records will limit the impact of compliance activity on your business operations. If consistent records aren't kept, we may need to impose special conditions on your licence, detailing the specific information we require.

You also need to keep records of:

• goods received
• goods despatched
• goods in storage

Goods received

You need to keep:

• Nature 20 warehouse import declarations (N20s)
• a Bond register, including  
  • date received
  • N20 numbers
  • permission number and dispatching warehouse (if received from another licensed warehouse)
  • line sequence number (if more than one line)
  • tariff classification
  • goods description
  • quantity received
  • quantity unit
  • warehouse unit value
  • international transport and insurance.

Goods despatched

You need to keep:

• movement permissions
• Nature 30 ex-warehouse import declarations (N30s), if applicable
• a Bond register, including  
  • date despatched/date used in excise manufacture
  • N20 number
  • permission number and receiving warehouse (if dispatching to another licensed warehouse)
  • line sequence number (if more than one line)
  • N30 number (for prepayment N30s)
  • tariff classification
  • goods description
  • quantity despatched
  • quantity unit
  • warehouse unit value
  • international transport and insurance.

Goods in storage

You need to keep:

• movement permissions
• Nature 20 warehouse import declarations (N20s)
• a Bond register, including  
  • date received
  • N20 number
  • permission number and dispatching warehouse (if received from another licensed warehouse)
  • line sequence number (if more than one line)
  • tariff classification
  • goods description
  • quantity received
  • quantity dispatched
  • quantity remaining
  • quantity unit
  • warehouse unit value
  • international transport and insurance.

If you're a broker or agent acting on behalf of the owner of the EEGs, you need to keep evidence of your communications with the Department of Home Affairs and us.

Example of poor record keeping

The records in the example below are poor as the:

• goods description in the bond register isn't consistent with the description used in the import declaration and doesn't provide a meaningful description of the goods
• goods description isn't recorded in a standardised way, for example, product name, unit size, percentage alcohol volume
• bond register doesn't contain a warehouse quantity unit value (this is needed for comparison and reconciliation with the unit value recorded on the import declaration)
• bond register doesn't separate entries by a unique identifier (such as line number), making it hard to follow N20 entries with more than one line.

If you need more information about excise and EEGs, you can contact us.

Records if you cease to hold a licence

If you cease to hold a licence you must keep all records of your previously licensed activities, for the period advised on your licence.

How to keep accurate and complete records for excise equivalent goods (EEGs).