{"id":"C2004A04716","name":"Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products Levy Imposition (General) Act 1994","slug":"agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-general-act-1994","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"40 of 1994","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436180,"registerId":"C2004A04716-fast-fetch-1775953434787","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 (General) 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 (General) Act 1994\n\n \n\nNo. 40, 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 neither a duty of customs nor a duty of excise\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n[1 Short title](#_Toc424900220)\n\n[2 Commencement](#_Toc424900221)\n\n[3 Imposition](#_Toc424900222)\n\n[4 Act does not impose levy on property of a State](#_Toc424900223)\n\n \n\n![](image.002.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nAgricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products Levy Imposition (General) Act 1994\n\nNo. 40, 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 neither a duty of customs nor 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 (General) 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 neither a duty of customs nor 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_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: imposing a levy on agricultural and veterinary chemical products while navigating constitutional restrictions. It has not expanded beyond this narrow technical function."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 4 sections spanning roughly one page","No defined terms section — relies on external definitions from companion legislation","Minimal conditional logic: just two straightforward limitations (not customs, not excise; not on State property)","Single cross-reference to the Constitution (section 55 and section 114)","No exceptions, schedules, or regulatory powers"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short, technical law that does one main thing: it officially creates a tax (called a 'levy') on agricultural and veterinary chemical products.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Imposes the levy**: It legally establishes the tax that chemical companies must pay when they register their products (pesticides, herbicides, veterinary medicines, etc.) with the government.\n- **Avoids constitutional problems**: The law carefully limits itself to avoid two types of taxes that the Constitution handles differently — customs duties (taxes on imports) and excise duties (taxes on goods produced domestically). These are dealt with in separate companion laws.\n- **Protects State governments**: It explicitly says that State governments don't have to pay this levy on their own property.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Companies that make or import agricultural chemicals (pesticides, fertilisers) and veterinary medicines\n- The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), which collects the money to fund its operations\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law is part of a three-act package that funds Australia's chemical safety regulator. Without this technical imposition law, the APVMA couldn't legally collect registration fees from chemical companies. The split into three separate acts (customs, excise, and general) is a constitutional workaround to ensure the tax is valid no matter how the chemicals enter Australia."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No. The Act simply imposes the levy established by the separate Collection Act, limits that imposition to amounts that are not customs or excise (s3(2)), and exempts State property using the constitutional definition (s4). It does not broaden or narrow the Collection Act's liability or collection rules beyond those express limits."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-reference to separate Collection Act: the levy is imposed here but liability, calculation and collection mechanics are in the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994 (s3(1)).","Constitutional limitation: imposition limited to amounts that are not duties of customs or excise, invoking s55/constitutional characterisation questions (s3(2)).","State property exemption: excludes property of a State and adopts the constitutional definition in s114, requiring constitutional interpretation to determine scope (s4(1)–(2)).","Commencement linkage: this Act commences with the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Act 1994, so timing depends on another statute (s2).","Substantive brevity: the Act is short and mechanically simple, but meaningful interpretation requires reading it alongside the Collection Act and constitutional provisions."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act imposes the levy described in the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994, but only to the extent the levy is not a customs or excise duty. It also excludes property owned by a State.\n\nThe practical effect is to create a statutory charge payable by persons liable under the separate Collection Act, raising costs for affected manufacturers, importers and suppliers; the Collection Act sets out who pays, how it is collected and compliance obligations."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-general-act-1994","history":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-general-act-1994/history","analysis":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-general-act-1994/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-general-act-1994/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-general-act-1994/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/agricultural-and-veterinary-chemical-products-levy-imposition-general-act-1994/documents"}}