Customs (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Rules of Origin) Regulations 2009 (F2025L00169)

Schedule 2 Approved exporters for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

Customs (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Rules of Origin) Regulations 2021

3 At the end of the instrument

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Part 6 - Approved exporters

13 Application for approval as approved exporter

(1) For the purposes of section 126AQE of the Act, an entity may make an application to the Comptroller-General of Customs for approval as an approved exporter.

(2) An application may be made by document or electronically.

(3) A documentary application must:

(a) be communicated to the Comptroller-General of Customs; and

(b) be in an approved form; and

(d) be signed in a manner indicated by the approved form.

(4) An electronic application must communicate such information as is set out in an approved statement.

(5) An entity may withdraw an application at any time by notice in writing given to the Comptroller-General of Customs.

14 Eligibility criteria

For the purposes of section 126AQE of the Act, the eligibility criteria that an entity must meet in order for the Comptroller-General of Customs to approve the entity as an approved exporter are the following:

(a) a trusted trader agreement with the entity is in force under section 176A of the Act;

(b) the Comptroller-General is satisfied that the entity knows and understands the rules of origin as set out in Section B of Chapter 3 of the Agreement;

(c) the Comptroller-General is satisfied that, if the entity were to complete a Declaration of Origin for goods exported to a Party, the entity would be able to obtain from the producer of the goods a declaration:

(i) claiming that the goods are originating goods in accordance with Chapter 3 of the Agreement; and

(ii) stating that the producer is willing to cooperate with any verification process in accordance with Article 3.24 of Chapter 3 of the Agreement and is able to meet the requirements of Section B of that Chapter.

15 Comptroller-General of Customs to decide application

(1) For the purposes of section 126AQE of the Act, the Comptroller-General of Customs may, in writing, approve an entity as an approved exporter if:

(a) the entity makes an application in accordance with section 13 of this instrument; and

(b) the Comptroller-General is satisfied that the entity meets the eligibility criteria under section 14 of this instrument.

(2) For the purposes of section 126AQE of the Act, the Comptroller-General must consider the following matters in deciding whether to approve an entity as an approved exporter:

(a) whether a trusted trader agreement between the entity and the Comptroller-General has been varied, suspended or terminated under section 178A of the Act;

(b) whether the Comptroller-General is considering varying, suspending or terminating a trusted trader agreement between the entity and the Comptroller-General.

(3) Subsection (2) does not limit the matters the Comptroller-General may consider in deciding whether to approve an entity as an approved exporter.

Approved exporter code

(4) An approval under subsection (1) must specify the entity's approved exporter code.

Copy of approval to be given to entity

(5) The Comptroller-General of Customs must give a copy of an approval under subsection (1) to the entity.

Period for which approval is in force

(6) An approval under subsection (1) must specify the period for which it is in force.

Note: See section 17 for variation, suspension or termination of an approval.

Refusal to approve entity as approved exporter

(7) If an entity makes an application for approval as an approved exporter and the application is in accordance with section 13, the Comptroller-General of Customs may, in writing, refuse to approve the entity as an approved exporter.

(8) If the Comptroller-General does so, the Comptroller-General must notify the entity of the refusal and of the reasons for the refusal.

Review

(9) An application may be made to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of a decision to refuse to approve an entity as an approved exporter.

16 Conditions of approval

For the purposes of section 126AQE of the Act, an approval of an entity as an approved exporter is subject to the following conditions:

(a) the entity complies with paragraph 3 of Article 3.21 of Chapter 3 of the Agreement;

(b) any other conditions specified in the approval by the Comptroller-General of Customs.

17 Variation, suspension or termination of approval

(1) For the purposes of section 126AQE of the Act, the Comptroller-General of Customs may, in writing, vary, suspend or terminate an entity's approval as an approved exporter if the Comptroller-General is satisfied that:

(a) the entity no longer meets the eligibility criteria under section 14 of this instrument; or

(b) the entity has not complied, or is not complying, with any condition of the entity's approval.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a variation of an approval may involve imposing new conditions on the approval or varying or removing existing conditions.

Process for making decision

(3) Before making a decision under subsection (1), the Comptroller-General of Customs must give the entity notice in writing:

(a) stating the decision the Comptroller-General is considering making; and

(b) stating the reasons why the Comptroller-General is considering making the decision; and

(c) inviting the entity to make written submissions to the Comptroller-General within the period specified in the notice (which must be a period of at least 10 business days starting on the day on which the notice is given).

(4) In deciding whether to make a decision under subsection (1), the Comptroller-General must consider any submissions received from the entity within the period specified in the notice.

(5) Subsection (4) does not limit the matters the Comptroller-General may consider in deciding whether to make a decision under subsection (1).

Notice of decisions

(6) The Comptroller-General must give notice of a variation, suspension or termination to the entity.

(7) The notice must specify the day the variation, suspension or termination takes effect (which must not be before the day after the notice is given to the entity).

(8) The Comptroller-General must give the entity notice in writing of any decision not to vary, suspend or terminate the entity's approval as an approved exporter.

Consequences of suspension

(9) An approval has no effect while suspended, but the period for which it remains in force continues to run despite the suspension.

(10) The Comptroller-General of Customs may, under subsection (1), vary or terminate an approval while it is suspended.

Revocation of suspension

(11) The Comptroller-General of Customs may, in writing, revoke a suspension under subsection (1).

(12) The Comptroller-General must give notice of the revocation of the suspension to the entity. The notice must specify the day the revocation takes effect.

Review

(13) An application may be made to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of a decision to vary, suspend or terminate an entity's approval as an approved exporter.

Part 7 - Application provisions

18 Amendments made by the Customs Legislation Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol Implementation and Other Measures) Regulations 2025

The amendment of subsection 11(1) made by Schedule 2 to the Customs Legislation Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol Implementation and Other Measures) Regulations 2025 applies in relation to goods produced on or after the commencement of that Schedule.