What it does
This instrument, the Biosecurity Charges Imposition (Customs) Regulation 2016, prescribes fixed monetary charges for specified biosecurity matters connected to the administration of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (see s 3 and s 5). It sets the schedule of charges in a table in s 9(1), tying particular biosecurity activities to dollar amounts (for example, $43 per import declaration for goods brought in by aircraft (item 1), $63 per import declaration for goods brought in by vessel (item 2), and a wide range of reservation and management fees for animals, consignments and plants in post‑entry quarantine facilities (items 4-11)). The instrument makes those prescribed charges payable to the extent they fall within the classification of a customs duty under s 55 of the Constitution; charges that are not duties of customs are prescribed in a separate regulation, the Biosecurity Charges Imposition (General) Regulation 2016 (s 5).
Mechanically, the instrument does four core things. First, it defines the biosecurity matters subject to charges via the table in s 9(1) and ancillary definitional provisions in Part 1 (notably ss 6-8). Second, it sets out an indexation mechanism that can increase the dollar amounts on specified indexation days (s 9A). Third, it specifies a range of exemptions from those prescribed charges (s 10), including limited exemptions for diplomatic and defence-related consignments, certain Norfolk Island/territory matters (s 4; s 10(2)), and operational exemptions around approved arrangements and certain imported food charges (s 10(6)-(8)). Fourth, it records temporal application rules for successive amendments (ss 11-14), identifying effective dates for specific amendments made by later Regulations.
The instrument does not itself set out the collection, liability allocation, enforcement or penalty regime in detail. It states that the prescribed charges are imposed as taxes under the Biosecurity Charges Imposition (Customs) Act 2015 (s 5), so mechanics of liability, invoicing and recovery are matters provided for in that Act rather than in this regulation. The indexation provisions impose procedural mechanics that affect when replacement amounts apply to import declarations, self‑assessed clearance declarations and monthly plant‑space charges (s 9A(6), (6A), (7)-(8)). The instrument therefore functions as the price list for specified biosecurity services and approvals, with cross‑links to where legal liability and collection are established.