Senate

Customs Legislation Amendment (Airport, Port and Cargo Security) Bill 2004

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator the Honourable Christopher Martin Ellison)
This Explanatory Memorandum takes account of amendments made by the House of Representatives to the bill as introduced

Schedule 5 - security regulated ports

Customs Act 1901

Item 1 - After subsection 15(1)

184. Section 15 of the Customs Act provides that the Chief Executive Officer of Customs (the CEO) may, by notice in the Gazette, appoint ports, airports, wharves and boarding stations. He or she must fix the limits of ports, airports and wharves. The CEO relies on subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to revoke such appointments.

185. Under the Customs Act, a ship may only come to a place that is not a port if there is permission for them to do so.

186. The Customs Act does not set out any criteria that the CEO must consider before making an appointment under section 15 or revoking an appointment pursuant to subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (the AI Act).

187. Item 1 inserts subsection 15(1A) into the Customs Act to allow the CEO to take the following into account when deciding whether to appoint a port:

187.1.1.
whether the port or any part of the port is a security regulated port (within the meaning of the Maritime Transport Security Act 2003 (the MTS Act)); and
187.1.2.
if so - whether the person designated under section 14 of the MTS Act as the port operator has a maritime security plan.

188. This will allow the CEO to take these security related matters into account when appointing or revoking an appointment of a port. Whilst the CEO may take these matters into account, he or she may decide to appoint a port even if it is not a security regulated port or it does not have a plan.

189. Section 13 of the MTS Act provides, in part, that the Secretary of the Department of Transport and Regional Services may, by notice published in the Gazette , declare that areas of a port intended for use either wholly or partly in connection with the movement, loading, unloading, maintenance or provisioning of security regulated ships comprise a security regulated port.

190. Section 42 of the MTS Act requires port operators, port facility operators and prescribed maritime industry participants to have maritime security plans. The Secretary may approve a plan under section 51 of the MTS Act. Section 52 sets out when a maritime security plan comes into force.

191. Under section 14 of the MTS Act, the Secretary may, by notice published in the Gazette, designate a person as the port operator for a security regulated port.


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