{"id":"F2023L01743","name":"Customs (Prohibited Imports) (Vaping Goods) Approval 2023","slug":"customs-prohibited-imports-vaping-goods-approval-2023","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":442232,"registerId":"F2023L01743-fast-fetch-1775957286583","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Customs (Prohibited Imports) (Vaping Goods) Approval 2023","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![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nCustoms (Prohibited Imports) (Vaping Goods) Approval 2023\n\nI, Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Aged Care, make the following instrument.\n\nDated 21 December 2023\n\nMark Butler\n\nMinister for Health and Aged Care\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Definitions\n\n5 Approval of importation of vaping goods\n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Customs (Prohibited Imports) (Vaping Goods) Approval 2023.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument Immediately after the commencement of the Customs Legislation Amendment (Vaping Goods) Regulations 2023. 1 January 2024\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under subregulation 5A(5) of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\npolice officer has the same meaning as in subsection 4(2) of the Customs Act 1901.\n\n5  Approval of importation of vaping goods\n\n  The importation into Australia of vaping goods is approved if the vaping goods are imported:\n\n (a) by a person who is:\n\n (i) a member of a group of persons who are visiting Australia to participate in a national or international sporting event; and\n\n (ii) responsible for the medical treatment of the persons in the group; and\n\n (iii) responsible for the control and custody of the vaping goods while the group is in Australia; or\n\n (b) by a person who is:\n\n (i) a member of a group of persons, being members of the military forces of another country who are visiting Australia for military training; and\n\n (ii) responsible for the medical treatment of the persons in the group; and\n\n (iii) responsible for the control and custody of the vaping goods while the group is in Australia; or\n\n (c) by a person who is:\n\n (i) a member of a group of persons, being a group that includes a person who is the Head of State or Head of Government of a foreign country and senior Government officials of that country, who are visiting Australia on official business; and\n\n (ii) responsible for the medical treatment of the persons in the group; and\n\n (iii) responsible for the control and custody of the vaping goods while the group is in Australia; or\n\n (d) by a police officer for the purposes of criminal investigation or law enforcement (including criminal prosecution).\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 instrument serves its original narrow purpose: creating specific exemptions to the vaping import prohibition for limited professional categories. It has not expanded beyond this intent."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (5 sections, approximately 1 page)","Only 1 defined term ('police officer', which simply references another Act)","Single operative provision (section 5) with straightforward disjunctive conditions (four alternative scenarios)","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the definition and authority provisions","No nested exceptions or conditional logic within the four permitted categories"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates a very narrow exception to Australia’s ban on importing vaping products, allowing only four groups to bring them in legally: medical staff accompanying visiting sports teams, foreign military forces, or official delegations, and police for criminal investigations. It matters because it permits limited medical and evidentiary uses of vaping goods that the general public cannot import."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument amends the practical scope of the prohibition on importing vaping goods by adding limited, categorical approvals for specific classes of importers (medical custodians of visiting groups and police for enforcement purposes). It does not repeal the general prohibition; it creates narrowly defined exceptions tied to the importer’s role and custody obligations."},"complexity_factors":["Condition-based, narrow approvals (section 5) make the rule easy to state but require fact-specific verification of status and role.","Cross-references to other instruments and Acts: made under subreg 5A(5) of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 and 'police officer' defined by Customs Act s4(2).","Commencement timing depends on the separate Customs Legislation Amendment (Vaping Goods) Regulations 2023, creating practical sequencing dependencies.","Single substantive definition (police officer) reduces definitional complexity but increases reliance on external statute language.","Verification and compliance burden falls on importers and customs officers to establish group membership, medical responsibility and custody/control.","Potential interpretive ambiguity over phrases like 'responsible for the medical treatment' and 'control and custody' could generate administrative or legal queries."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument creates narrow exceptions to Australia’s ban on importing vaping goods. It permits import of vaping products when carried into Australia by medical custodians responsible for visiting groups (sports teams, foreign military trainees, or official delegations including a Head of State/Government) and when imported by police officers for criminal investigation or law enforcement. It matters because it converts a general prohibition into a set of categorical approvals tied to the importer’s role and custody obligations, limiting who can legally bring vaping goods into the country."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/customs-prohibited-imports-vaping-goods-approval-2023","history":"/api/acts/customs-prohibited-imports-vaping-goods-approval-2023/history","analysis":"/api/acts/customs-prohibited-imports-vaping-goods-approval-2023/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/customs-prohibited-imports-vaping-goods-approval-2023/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/customs-prohibited-imports-vaping-goods-approval-2023/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/customs-prohibited-imports-vaping-goods-approval-2023/documents"}}