{"id":"C2004A04714","name":"Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products Levy Imposition (Excise) Act 1994","slug":"agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-excise-act-1994","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"38 of 1994","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436179,"registerId":"C2004A04714-fast-fetch-1775953434782","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products Levy Imposition (Excise) Act 1994","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAgricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products Levy Imposition (Excise) Act 1994\n\n \n\nNo. 38, 1994\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose the levy payable under the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994, so far as that levy is a duty of excise\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n[1 Short title](#_Toc424900245)\n\n[2 Commencement](#_Toc424900246)\n\n[3 Imposition](#_Toc424900247)\n\n[4 Act does not impose levy on property of a State](#_Toc424900248)\n\n![](image.002.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nAgricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products Levy Imposition (Excise) Act 1994\n\nNo. 38, 1994\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose the levy payable under the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994, so far as that levy is a duty of excise\n\n[Assented to 15 March 1994]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n##### 1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products Levy Imposition (Excise) Act 1994.\n\n##### 2  Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on the same day as the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Act 1994.\n\n##### 3  Imposition\n\n (1) The levy that is payable under the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994 is imposed by this section.\n\n (2) This section imposes the levy only so far as the levy is a duty of excise within the meaning of section 55 of the Constitution.\n\n##### 4  Act does not impose levy on property of a State\n\n (1) This Act does not impose a levy on property of any kind belonging to a State.\n\n (2) In this section, property of any kind belonging to a State has the same meaning as in section 114 of the Constitution.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is narrowly focused and simply gives statutory force to the levy created in the Collection of Levy Act, constrained by constitutional limits and excluding State property. It does not expand the levy beyond that original purpose or add new substantive levy rules; operational scope (who pays, rates, enforcement) remains in the Collection of Levy Act. Therefore the scope has not been broadened beyond the instrument's original, narrowly stated purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Very short Act: 4 sections only (short title, commencement, imposition, State exemption)","No operational detail: relies on Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994 for payer, rate and collection mechanics","Cross-references to other statutes and the Constitution: references to the Collection of Levy Act, Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Act 1994 (commencement), Constitution s55 (definition of excise) and s114 (meaning of State property)","Conditional wording: \"only so far as\" creates legal dependency on constitutional interpretation and potential litigation over scope","Limited definitions within the Act itself (no defined terms provided here)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does (mechanically)\n\n- This very short Act makes the levy created by the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994 into an excise duty (a tax on goods) so far as the levy qualifies as a \"duty of excise\" under section 55 of the Constitution (section 3).  \n- It starts on the same day as the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Act 1994 (section 2).  \n- It does not impose the levy on property owned by a State (section 4), using the same meaning of \"property of a State\" as in section 114 of the Constitution.  \n\n**Who this affects\n\n- The Act affects the persons and businesses identified in the separate Collection of Levy Act as liable to pay the levy. This Act does not set who pays, the rate, or how collection occurs — those operational details are in the Collection of Levy Act.  \n- It excludes State-owned property from being liable for the levy.  \n- Administrators (the agency or official charged by the Collection of Levy Act) will be the ones to collect and enforce the levy in practice.  \n\n**Why it matters (purpose claims and practical effects)\n\n- Purpose claimed by the instrument: to ensure the levy payable under the Collection of Levy Act is imposed to the extent it is an excise (i.e. to use Commonwealth taxation power consistent with the Constitution).  \n- Practical legal effect: by saying the levy is imposed \"only so far as\" it is a duty of excise (s3(2)), the Act recognises constitutional limits and leaves scope for courts to determine whether particular applications are constitutionally permissible.  \n- Direct costs: the levy (when applied under the Collection of Levy Act) will be a cost to the liable businesses or persons; those costs can be passed on in supply chains (e.g. higher prices for chemical products).  \n- Administrative consequences: collection, compliance and enforcement mechanisms are implemented under the separate Collection of Levy Act, so administrative burden falls on taxpayers and the collecting agency according to that Act's rules.  \n- Distributional effect: the State exemption (s4) shifts the levy burden away from State-owned property and onto non-State owners (private businesses, other Commonwealth entities if not exempted by law).  \n\n**Trade-offs, incentives and risks (mechanisms, not verdicts)\n\n- Constitutional risk/ambiguity: because the Act imposes the levy \"only so far as\" it is an excise, there is a legal question about which parts of the levy are legally characterisable as an excise; that leaves room for litigation and judicial clarification.  \n- Dependency on other laws: this Act is mechanically simple but depends on the Collection of Levy Act for operational details (who pays, rates, timeframes) and on the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Act 1994 for coordinated commencement (s2).  \n- Behavioural incentives: entities subject to the levy may alter pricing, purchasing, sourcing, or product formulation to reduce levy exposure, in line with how the Collection of Levy Act defines the taxable base.  \n\n**Key statutory pointers**\n\n- Section 3: imposes the levy but limits imposition to the extent it is an excise under section 55 of the Constitution.  \n- Section 4: excludes property of a State from the levy, using the section 114 meaning of \"property of a State.\"\n\n(For details about rates, who is liable, collection mechanics and enforcement, consult the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994.)"},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly focused on its original purpose: imposing the excise component of the agricultural and veterinary chemicals levy. It has not expanded beyond this narrow constitutional function."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 4 sections spanning approximately 1 page","No defined terms in the Act itself (only one reference to external constitutional definitions)","Minimal conditional logic: just one limitation ('only so far as') and one exemption (State property)","Single cross-reference to related legislation and two constitutional provisions","No nested exceptions or elaborate procedural requirements"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short, technical law that does one specific job: it officially creates a tax (called a 'levy') on agricultural and veterinary chemical products, but only for the portion of that tax that counts as an 'excise duty' under Australia's Constitution.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Imposes the levy**: It gives legal force to the tax described in a related law (the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994).\n- **Limits the scope**: It only applies to the part of the levy that is a 'duty of excise' — a specific type of tax on goods that the federal government is allowed to collect under section 55 of the Constitution.\n- **Protects State property**: It explicitly says this tax cannot be applied to property owned by Australian States, following constitutional rules that protect States from certain federal taxes.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Manufacturers, importers, or sellers of agricultural and veterinary chemicals who must pay this levy.\n- State governments, which are shielded from the tax on their own property.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis Act is essentially a 'constitutional safety net'. Australia has strict rules about what taxes the federal government can impose. By separating the 'excise' portion of the levy into its own Act, Parliament ensures the tax is legally valid and enforceable. Without this technical step, the broader levy scheme might be vulnerable to constitutional challenge."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-excise-act-1994","history":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-excise-act-1994/history","analysis":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-excise-act-1994/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-excise-act-1994/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-excise-act-1994/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-excise-act-1994/documents"}}