{"id":"F2015L01736","name":"Customs (Extensions of Time and Non-cooperation) Direction 2015","slug":"customs-extensions-of-time-and-non-cooperation-direction-2015","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":438461,"registerId":"F2015L01736-fast-fetch-1775954882286","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Customs (Extensions of Time and Non-cooperation) Direction 2015","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 20.2\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png) \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nCustoms (Extensions of Time and Non‑cooperation) Direction 2015\n\n \n\nCustoms Act 1901\n\n \n\n \n\nI, CHRISTOPHER PYNE, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, make this direction under subsection 269TA(1) of the Customs Act 1901.\n\n \n\n \n\nDated 30 October 2015\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nCHRISTOPHER PYNE\n\n___________________________________________\n\nCHRISTOPHER PYNE\n\nMinister for Industry, Innovation and Science  \n\n\nPART 1 - PRELIMINARY\n\n1. Name of instrument\n\n\nThis Direction is the Customs (Extensions of Time and Non‑cooperation) Direction 2015.\n\n2.             Authority\n\na)      This Direction is made under subsection 269TA(1) of the Act.\n\nb)     This Direction has the purpose of directing the Commissioner in relation to:\n\n1. granting extensions of time under section 269SMG, and subsections 269TC(6) and 269TC(9) of the Act; and\n2. making determinations about:\n  1. uncooperative exporters under subsection 269T(1) of the Act; or\n  2. non-cooperation by entities under section 269TAACA of the Act.\n\n\n3.             Commencement\n\nThis Direction commences on commencement of Schedule 1 of the Customs Amendment (Anti-Dumping Measures) Act (No.1) 2015.\n\n4.             Definitions\n\nIn this Direction:\n\n Act means the Customs Act 1901.\n\n case means an investigation, review or inquiry under Part XVB of the Act.\n\nCommissioner means the Commissioner of the Anti-Dumping Commission.\n\nentity or entities have the same meaning as ‘entities’ (in the singular for entity) given under subsection 269TAACA(2) of the Act.\n\ninterested party has the same meaning as ‘interested party’ under subsection 269T(1) of the Act.\n\nkey aspect means the making, by the Commissioner, of a preliminary affirmative determination, a statement of essential facts, a report relating to the termination of a case, or a report to the Minister.\n\nlegislated period means a timeframe specified, determined or prescribed for submitting any kind of response relating to any case, including the period specified in the Commissioner’s notice or other correspondence to an interested party in any case.\n\nnon-cooperative entity means an entity that the Commissioner is satisfied has either not provided information the Commissioner considers relevant to a case within a period the Commissioner considers reasonable, or has significantly impeded the case.\n\nresponse means any document or thing provided to the Commissioner in relation to any case, including submissions, information or answers to the questions in questionnaires.\n\nuncooperative exporter has the same meaning as ‘uncooperative exporter’ under section 269T of the Act.\n\nPART 2 - DIRECTIONS\n\n5.             Extensions of time – sections 269TC and 269SMG\n\na)      When the Commissioner is:\n\n1. deciding if a longer period is reasonably required or practicable under subsections 269TC(6) and 269TC(9); or\n2. considering whether to allow any interested party a longer period to give any response (including under section 269SMG);\n\n\nthe Commissioner must:\n\n1. take into account the responsibility to conduct cases in a timely and efficient manner;\n2. reject a request for a longer period if the request has not been made before the legislated period has ended; and\n3. in considering any reasons provided to support the request by any interested party, have regard to the matters specified at 5(b).\n\n\nb)     When the Commissioner is considering any reasons provided to support the request by any interested parties under 5(a)(i)(3) or (ii)(3), the Commissioner must have regard to whether:\n\n1. an interested party has provided reasons why it could not provide its response within the whole legislated period and not only the period remaining between the request and the end of the legislated period;\n2. the reasons provided are acceptable, taking into account ordinary business practices or ordinary commercial principles;\n3. the reasons provided are consistent with the Commissioner’s understanding of the relevant industry; and\n4. the reasons provided are consistent with previous correspondence from the party, previous dealings with the party, or information provided by other interested parties,\n\n\n6.             Insufficient responses – section 296SMG\n\na)   If:\n\n1. an interested party has provided a response within the legislated period;\n2. that response has deficiencies that could, in the Commissioner’s view, be quickly and easily rectified in a further response; and\n3. the Commissioner considers a further response may be relevant to the case or necessary to the proper conduct of the case,\n\n\nthen the Commissioner should notify that party of the deficiencies and request that they be addressed in a further response within a reasonable timeframe specified by the Commissioner.\n\nb)   If:\n\n1. an interested party has provided a response within the legislated period;\n2. that response has deficiencies that could not, in the Commissioner’s view, be rectified quickly and easily in a further response; and\n3. the Commissioner considers a further response is relevant to the case or necessary to the proper conduct of the case,\n\n\nthen the Commissioner will notify the party of this view as soon as practicable.\n\nNote: In these circumstances the Commissioner is not, required to provide the interested party with any further extension of time and is not precluded from being satisfied that the party has significantly impeded an investigation for the purposes of subsection 269T(1) or section 269TAACA.\n\n7.             Considering late responses\n\na)      If a response has been received by the Commissioner outside the legislated period, the Commissioner must, when determining whether to have regard to that response, consider if taking the response into account would delay a key aspect of the case.\n\nb)     If taking the response into account would delay a key aspect of the case, the Commissioner must consider:\n\n1. the time remaining before the deadline for the next key aspect of the case – including making a preliminary affirmative determination or publishing a statement of essential facts;\n2. if data is provided in the submission, the quality and quantity of that data and the level of resources required to adequately consider it;\n3. if assertions or proposals are provided in the submission, the seriousness, nature and timing of those assertions in relation to the case and the resources required to adequately address or substantiate them; and\n4. any reasons provided by the party to explain why the submission is late, taking into account the above directions in relation to granting extensions.\n\n\n8.             Relevant information – section 269T\n\na)      When determining if an exporter is an uncooperative exporter, the Commissioner must consider the legislated period for providing a response to be a reasonable period\n\nb)     The Commissioner must determine an exporter to be an uncooperative exporter, on the basis that no relevant information was provided in a reasonable period, if that exporter:\n\n1. fails, within the legislated period, to:\n  1. provide a response; or\n  2. request a longer period to provide a response; or\n2. provides a response within the legislated period that the Commissioner considers did not provide information relevant to the case.\n\n\n9.             Relevant information – section 269TAACA\n\na)      When determining if an entity is a non-cooperative entity for the purposes of section 269TAACA, the Commissioner must consider the legislated period for providing a response to be a reasonable period.\n\nb)      The Commissioner must determine an entity to be a non‑cooperative entity for the purposes of section 269TAACA, on the basis that no relevant information was provided in a reasonable period, if that entity:\n\n1. Fails, within the legislated period, to:\n  1. provide a response; or\n  2.  request a longer period to provide a response; or\n2. provides a response within the legislated period that the Commissioner considers did not provide information relevant to the case.\n\n\n10.        Significantly impeded – sections 269T and 269TAACA\n\nIn determining whether or not an exporter or entity has significantly impeded a case, the Commissioner must take into account:\n\na)      any response provided by the exporter or entity to the Commissioner, the timing of the response and any information omitted from the response;\n\nb)     the actions or omissions of the exporter or entity during the conduct of this case and the reasonable or likely impacts of those actions or omissions, regardless of intention; and\n\nc)      any evidence which reasonably demonstrates an intention on the part of the exporter or entity to significantly obstruct or delay the case.\n\n11.        General powers – section 269SMG\n\nIn undertaking any assessment or consideration of the actions, omissions, or responses of any interested parties in relation to a case, before making any determination, the Commissioner must take into account:\n\na)      ordinary business practices;\n\nb)     ordinary commercial principles; and\n\nc)      the relevant industry and the way it operates.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Direction does not expand statutory powers; it provides procedural guidance on how the Commissioner should exercise existing powers over extensions and determinations of uncooperative or non‑cooperative entities. It prescribes mandatory considerations (timeliness, industry practice, prior conduct) and consequences for failures to meet the legislated period, narrowing how discretion is to be applied in practice (see Directions 5–11)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to multiple provisions of the Customs Act (extensions, uncooperative exporter, non-cooperation by entities) requiring coordination across statutory rules.","Use of open-ended standards—'reasonable period', 'reasonably required', 'reasonably demonstrates'—which create judgement calls and case-by-case application.","Subjective assessments such as whether a response is 'relevant', 'deficient', or whether conduct 'significantly impeded' a case.","Operational trade-offs between timeliness and completeness (assessing delay to 'key aspects' vs. value of late material).","Procedural rules that distinguish quickly rectifiable deficiencies from non-rectifiable ones, creating different notice and consequence paths.","Requirement to consider 'ordinary business practices' and 'relevant industry' context, increasing evidentiary and factual analysis.","Potential administrative burden on exporters to document reasons and on the Commission to evaluate quality/quantity of submissions.","Discretion concentrated in the Commissioner, increasing litigation risk and need for detailed reasons to withstand review."],"plain_english_summary":"This Direction instructs the Anti‑Dumping Commissioner how to handle requests for extra time, late or deficient submissions, and when to classify exporters or other entities as uncooperative in anti‑dumping cases. It applies to exporters, interested parties and other entities who must meet legislated deadlines and supply relevant information. The Commissioner must prioritise timely, efficient case conduct, may refuse late extension requests, and must weigh industry practices and prior conduct when deciding whether missed or poor responses amount to non‑cooperation, which can affect case outcomes."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Direction remains tightly focused on its original purpose: guiding the Commissioner on time extensions and non-cooperation determinations in anti-dumping cases. The scope has not expanded beyond administrative procedural guidance for Part XVB of the Customs Act 1901."},"complexity_factors":["11 defined terms in the interpretation section, several cross-referencing definitions from the parent Customs Act 1901","Nested conditional logic throughout (e.g., clause 5(a)(i)(3) with multiple sub-elements)","Multiple cross-references to specific subsections of the Customs Act (269TA, 269TC, 269SMG, 269T, 269TAACA) requiring familiarity with the parent Act","Parallel structure for exporters (section 269T) and entities (section 269TAACA) creating near-duplicate clauses (clauses 8 and 9)","Subjective assessment criteria ('quickly and easily rectified', 'reasonable period', 'significantly impeded') requiring Commissioner discretion","Note in clause 6(b) creating an exception to normal procedural fairness expectations"],"plain_english_summary":"This Direction tells the Anti‑Dumping Commissioner how to manage deadlines, late or incomplete responses, and uncooperative exporters in anti‑dumping investigations. It limits extensions, allows fixes for minor defects, permits ignoring late material that would delay decisions, and enables labeling repeat or evasive respondents as uncooperative—potentially leading to higher duties. It affects foreign exporters, Australian importers and Commission staff, and aims to prevent delay tactics while still allowing legitimate extensions when properly justified."},"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"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/customs-extensions-of-time-and-non-cooperation-direction-2015","history":"/api/acts/customs-extensions-of-time-and-non-cooperation-direction-2015/history","analysis":"/api/acts/customs-extensions-of-time-and-non-cooperation-direction-2015/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/customs-extensions-of-time-and-non-cooperation-direction-2015/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/customs-extensions-of-time-and-non-cooperation-direction-2015/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/customs-extensions-of-time-and-non-cooperation-direction-2015/documents"}}