Biosecurity (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulation 2016

Several core legal and operational concepts structure the instrument. These are primarily manifest in the Schedules and the cross‑references the instrument creates.

Biosecurity Act/Biosecurity Regulation integration. The most important conceptual shift is the move from a “quarantine” lexicon and regime to a “biosecurity” regime. Schedule 2 replaces references to the Quarantine Act and to quarantine officers, and inserts references to the Biosecurity Act 2015 and “biosecurity official” (see Schedule 2 items 2, 3, 21-24). The instrument treats the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016 as the new operational home for decision‑making, powers and fee recovery.

Continuity via transitional definitions. Schedule 3 defines “Biosecurity Act” (the Biosecurity Act 2015), “commencement day”, “Quarantine Act” as the Quarantine Act 1908 as in force before the commencement day, and “quarantine charge” as a charge imposed under specified provisions of the old quarantine charge Acts (Schedule 3 item 1). Those definitions are the pivot points that allow the instrument to say when something remains under the old law and when the new law applies.

Import risk analysis continuity. Item 2 of Schedule 3 governs import risk analyses (IRAs) that were started under Part 6A of the Quarantine Regulations but not completed before commencement. The Director of Biosecurity may treat an existing IRA as a BIRA (biosecurity import risk analysis), may treat certain equivalent procedural requirements as satisfied, and must publish a notice identifying the continuing analysis, stating it will be conducted as a BIRA, and specifying which requirements are taken to have been complied with (Schedule 3 item 2(2)-(3)). For ongoing IRAs continued as BIRAs, the instrument modifies the time framing in section 31 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 for the purpose of such continuing analyses, effectively directing progress “as soon as practicable after the report is prepared” and omitting subsections 31(2) to (8) (Schedule 3 item 2(4)).

Cost‑recovery treatment for fees and charges. Multiple transitional items make clear that fees or quarantine charges that were unpaid but for services provided pre‑commencement become payable on demand and are to be treated as cost‑recovery charges under the Biosecurity Act (Schedule 3 items 3 and 4). The instrument explicitly references provisions of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 that govern recovery (Divisions 3 and 4 of Part 3 of Chapter 11 of the Biosecurity Act, and section 110 and section 112 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 are cited in the notes to Schedule 3 items 3-5). Those cross‑references are the mechanism by which recovery, joint liability of agents, and late payment fees are imported into the transitional treatment of old debts.

Selective fee exemptions and non‑application rules. The instrument specifies circumstances in which particular charges or fees do not apply to certain pending applications once they are carried across into the Biosecurity regime (Schedule 3 items 6-8). For example, an initial assessment fee cannot be charged under Part 2 of Chapter 9 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 where an equivalent initial assessment fee was already paid under the Quarantine Service Fees Determination 2005 (Schedule 3 item 6).

Preserving liability rules from the old instruments where necessary. Where liability to pay a quarantine charge under the old instruments is relevant, the regulation preserves who was liable by reference back to section 7 of the operative prior instruments (Schedule 3 item 4(3)). That mechanism avoids creating ambiguity about who is charged during the transition.

Administrative review and emergency decisions. Schedule 2 amends the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Regulations 1985 to insert decisions relating to biosecurity emergency declarations and actions during biosecurity emergency periods into the list of decisions caught by those Regulations (Schedule 2 item 1). The device is a jurisdictional mapping: it brings specified Biosecurity Act decisions into the ADJR regulatory frame.

Cross‑regulatory substitution. The instrument proceeds largely by substitution: changing the controlling legal text that other regulatory instruments refer to (for example, Customs Regulation 2015 references “released from quarantine” are replaced by “released from biosecurity control under the Biosecurity Act 2015 or released from quarantine under the Quarantine Act 1908, as in force before 16 June 2016”, Schedule 2 item 5).

Taken together, these concepts show an approach that combines substitution (changing references), preservation (keeping liability rules and pending processes), and integration (putting fees and recovery under the Biosecurity Act/Regulation model).

The regulation has a broad range of direct and consequential addressees. The legal and practical categories that are affected are identifiable from the instrument’s language.

Persons who received quarantine services before the commencement day. Schedule 3 item 3 makes payable, on demand, fees for services provided before commencement where no demand had previously been made, and states the fee is payable by the person to whom the service was provided. Those persons will see historic debts treated as cost‑recovery charges under the Biosecurity Act when the Department issues a demand.

Persons who were liable under the former quarantine charge instruments. Schedule 3 item 4(3) preserves who is liable to pay quarantine charges by reference to section 7 of the Quarantine Charges (Imposition,Customs) Regulation 2014 or section 7 of the Quarantine Charges (Imposition,General) Regulation 2015, as in force immediately before the commencement day. Entities listed there (importers, owners, consignors or persons prescribed in those instruments) remain the persons to whom demands can later be made and who will be treated as liable under the Biosecurity Act when demands are issued.

Agents of liable persons. The instrument’s notes repeat a statutory cross‑reference: an agent of a person liable to pay a cost‑recovery charge under the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 is jointly and severally liable with that person to pay the charge (Schedule 3 items 3 and 4 notes, citing section 112 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016). The practical consequence is that freight forwarders, customs brokers and other agents who acted on behalf of liable persons face joint liability once the old charges are converted into cost‑recovery charges.

Applicants with pending regulatory processes. Several transitional items single out pending processes: IRAs in progress under the Quarantine Regulations (Schedule 3 item 2) and applications for import permits, co‑regulatory approvals and compliance agreements that were not decided before the commencement day (Schedule 3 items 6-8). Those applicants must deal with the Director of Biosecurity for continuation and need to check whether fees already paid under prior determinations mean new fees cannot be charged.

Businesses with compliance or co‑regulatory arrangements. Items 9 and 10 of Schedule 3 provide that persons are not liable to pay certain imported food compliance agreement charges for the 2015-16 financial year where they already paid equivalent quarantine charges in that year under the old instruments. Those who negotiated or paid compliance agreement charges in the 2015-16 year will need to map prior payments to the transitional rules.

Government and departmental actors. The Department administered by the Minister for Part 1 of Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (referred to repeatedly across Schedule 2 amendments) is the administrative entity that will exercise the Biosecurity Act powers and implement fee recovery. The Director of Biosecurity is explicitly tasked with continuing IRAs as BIRAs and publishing notices (Schedule 3 item 2).

Regulated stakeholders under amended regulations. A host of sectors regulated by instruments amended in Schedule 2 will need to update internal processes and understand that the statutory point of reference has shifted to the Biosecurity Act. These sectors include aviation security, civil aviation safety, customs and importers, gene technology oversight, maritime transport and offshore facility security, national health security and fisheries. For example, Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations replace references to “quarantine officer” with “biosecurity officer” (Schedule 2 items 21-24), which alters which agency staff can perform particular functions.

Parties involved in emergency decision‑making. The Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Regulations 1985 are amended to bring into those Regulations decisions under Parts 1 and 2 of Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act concerning biosecurity emergency and human biosecurity emergency declarations and actions during emergency periods (Schedule 2 item 1). Persons and entities subject to emergency declarations, or facing actions taken during an emergency period, are affected because those decisions are explicitly referenced in judicial review regulation.

Owners of goods subject to customs control during treatment. The Customs Regulation 2015 amendments revise which releases and treatment‑related deteriorations give rise to certain customs exemptions and claims. For instance, Clause 1 of Schedule 6 item 4 (as substituted) ties duty relief to goods that deteriorate or are destroyed while undergoing treatment under the Biosecurity Act 2015 or under the Quarantine Act 1908 as in force before 16 June 2016 (Schedule 2 item 10). Importers whose goods were treated immediately before or after the commencement will need to map these rules to claims.

In short, the regulation affects importers, agents (brokers, forwarders), applicants for permits and agreements, businesses with compliance arrangements, departmental units and officials, and regulated sectors whose regulations are amended. The regulation also makes crystal clear that historic liabilities and in‑progress processes do not fall into a legal void: people who were liable under the previous regimes remain exposed, but now within the Biosecurity Act’s cost‑recovery framework.

The instrument creates explicit duties and preserves certain rights through its transitional provisions, while the consequential amendments reassign who exercises particular statutory powers. These are the principal duties and rights established or preserved in the text.

Duty to pay converted fees and charges on demand. Schedule 3 items 3 and 4 impose a duty to pay historic fees and quarantine charges when a demand is made after commencement. The fee for a pre‑commencement service is due and payable when a demand is made (Schedule 3 item 3(2)), and the quarantine charge is due and payable when a demand is made (Schedule 3 item 4(2)). The identity of the person liable is preserved: the person to whom the service was provided (Schedule 3 item 3(3)) or the person prescribed by section 7 of the pre‑commencement quarantine charge regulations (Schedule 3 item 4(3)).

Duty for the Director of Biosecurity to publish a notice when continuing an IRA. Schedule 3 item 2(3) requires the Director of Biosecurity to publish on the Agriculture Department’s website a notice identifying the existing IRA, stating that it will continue as a BIRA and specifying which prescribed process requirements are taken to have been complied with. That is an affirmative administrative duty tied to procedural transparency when the Department converts an existing IRA to a BIRA.

Duty to treat certain historic fees and quarantine charges as cost‑recovery charges. The instrument mandates conversion: where a demand is made under subitems 3(2) or 4(2), the Biosecurity Act applies in relation to the fee or quarantine charge “as if it were a cost‑recovery charge” (Schedule 3 items 3(4) and 4(4)). That shifts the enforcement, recovery and late payment framework to the cost‑recovery architecture of the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016.

Duty to apply Biosecurity Regulation provisions for late payment fees and agent liability. Schedule 3 item 5 makes section 110 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 apply in relation to the cost‑recovery charge, and the notes in items 3, 4 and 5 repeatedly refer to section 112 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 which makes an agent jointly and severally liable with the principal for a cost‑recovery charge. Those are duties and liability standards imported into transitional recovery.

Rights not to be charged duplicate fees for certain pending applications. The transitional items provide rights that prevent double charging where prior payments were made under the old arrangements. For example, item 6(2) states that the initial assessment fee for an application taken to be made under section 177 of the Biosecurity Act may not be charged if the initial assessment fee had been paid under the Quarantine Service Fees Determination 2005 before the commencement day (Schedule 3 item 6). Similarly, items 7 and 8 provide that certain charges (item 12 of the Biosecurity Charges Imposition regulations) do not apply to applications for co‑regulatory approval or to applications to enter compliance agreements that are carried over into the Biosecurity Act (Schedule 3 items 7-8). Items 9 and 10 create a non‑liability for certain persons in respect of compliance agreement charges in the 2015-16 year where equivalent quarantine charges were already paid (Schedule 3 items 9-10).

Right of administrative review as mapped into ADJR Regulations. Schedule 2 amends the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Regulations 1985 to include decisions under specified Chapters of the Biosecurity Act relating to emergency declarations and actions during emergency periods (Schedule 2 item 1). That places certain Biosecurity Act decisions within the regulatory map of decisions that may be subject to judicial review under the ADJR framework, thereby preserving a right to legal review subject to the ADJR Regulations’ terms.

Right to be treated under the Biosecurity Regulatory framework. The instrument repeatedly directs that where old debts or processes are carried forward, they are to be handled under the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016 procedures for cost recovery, late payment, and administrative process (Schedule 3 items 3-5, and the notes). That gives affected persons an identifiable legal framework (albeit one different from the old Quarantine arrangements) for enforcement and redress.

Duty to comply with substituted regulatory language. Across Schedule 2, regulated entities encounter new statutory references and functions. For instance, multiple regulations simply replace “quarantine officer” with “biosecurity officer” or otherwise shift the responsible Department. Those responsible in practice must comply with the new nomenclature and the legal consequences that flow from the Biosecurity Act’s delegation of powers to biosecurity officials.

In sum, the regulation imposes affirmative payment duties on persons previously supplied with quarantine services or liable under old quarantine charge instruments when a demand is later made, imports cost‑recovery recovery mechanisms and late payment rules from the Biosecurity framework, preserves the identity of liable persons, and provides limited rights preventing double charging for certain in‑flight applications and fees. Administrative duties fall to the Director and the Department to publish and carry forward pending analyses.

The regulation itself does not create novel criminal offences or specify fines; rather, it channels enforcement, recovery and any sanctioning into the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016 frameworks. The instrument therefore operates by reallocation of which statutory enforcement machinery applies and by designating certain historic fees and charges as cost‑recovery charges for the purposes of recovery.

Cost‑recovery charge recovery rules imported. Schedule 3 explicitly provides that where a demand is made in relation to fees and quarantine charges covered by the transitional provisions, “the Biosecurity Act applies in relation to the fee [or charge] as if it were a cost‑recovery charge” (Schedule 3 items 3(4) and 4(4)). The instrument’s notes point to Divisions 3 and 4 of Part 3 of Chapter 11 of the Biosecurity Act as setting out the rules for recovery of cost‑recovery charges and allowing regulations to provide for late payment fees (Schedule 3 items 3 and 4 notes). This is the key enforcement mechanism: recovery follows the Biosecurity Act’s cost‑recovery model and its implementing regulations.

Late payment fees. Schedule 3 item 5 makes section 110 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 apply in relation to the cost‑recovery charge (Schedule 3 item 5(2)). The instrument designates who is liable for any late payment fee in relation to the cost‑recovery charge (Schedule 3 item 5(3)) and reiterates that an agent of a person liable is jointly and severally liable under section 112 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 (notes). The instrument therefore imports statutory mechanisms for late payment penalties and agent liability rather than creating bespoke transitional penalties.

Joint and several liability for agents. The repeated note that an agent of a person who is liable is jointly and severally liable (Schedule 3 items 3 and 4 notes) is an enforcement device. It shifts practical enforcement leverage: where a principal cannot pay, the Department can pursue the agent as co‑liable for the converted cost‑recovery debt (per section 112 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 as cited).

Judicial review mapping. Schedule 2 amends the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Regulations 1985 to include specified decisions under Parts 1 and 2 of Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act concerning biosecurity emergency declarations and actions during emergency periods (Schedule 2 item 1). While this does not itself create a new enforcement sanction, it affects the reviewability and therefore the legal routes by which affected parties can challenge executive action taken under the Biosecurity Act, including actions taken during declared emergency periods.

Customs and duty relief interactions. Schedule 2 item 10 substitutes a new Clause 1 of Schedule 6 table item relating to customs duty relief when goods deteriorate, are damaged, destroyed, or are destroyed under the Biosecurity Act or the Quarantine Act as in force before 16 June 2016. This substitution adjusts the factual triggers for customs duty relief and would therefore interact with Customs Act enforcement and refund processes where goods were treated for biosecurity reasons.

What the instrument does not do, in terms of enforcement specifics, is create new criminal penalties or civil sanction regimes within the text itself. All penalty and enforcement details are therefore to be found in the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016, which the instrument makes the operative framework for the transitional recovery and enforcement of liabilities that originated under the previous Quarantine instruments.

Compliance officers, agents and liable persons should therefore consult the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016 to identify the precise recovery procedures, decision‑making appeal routes and late payment calculation mechanisms that the instrument imports by reference.

The regulation is expressly made under a long list of enabling Acts (reg 3). That list highlights the principal cross‑legal interactions: Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977; Aviation Transport Security Act 2004; the Biosecurity (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015; Civil Aviation Act 1988; Customs Act 1901; Electronic Transactions Act 1999; Fisheries Management Act 1991; Gene Technology Act 2000; Imported Food Charges Acts 2015; Legislation Act 2003; Maritime Powers Act 2013; Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003; National Health Acts; Quarantine Act 1908; Quarantine Charges Acts 2014; and Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984.

Substitution and redirection of statutory references. The instrument operates primarily by substituting references across the regulatory statute book. For example, Schedule 2 item 1 amends the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Regulations 1985 to add decisions under Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act into specified ADJR entries. The Customs Regulation 2015 is amended so that periods for making an application now refer to release from “biosecurity control under the Biosecurity Act 2015 or released from quarantine under the Quarantine Act 1908, as in force before 16 June 2016” (Schedule 2 item 5). These substitutions mean operational interactions that were previously mediated by quarantine law are now mediated by the Biosecurity Act, with transitional fallbacks to the Quarantine Act where explicitly preserved.

Fees and charges frameworks redirected. Multiple imported food charge instruments (Imported Food Charges (Imposition,Customs) Regulation 2015 and the parallel General regulation) are amended so that where a service or approved arrangement is covered, the relevant charge is now that “prescribed by item 13 of the table in section 9 of the Biosecurity Charges Imposition (Customs) Regulation 2016” (Schedule 2 items 14-17). This is a direct mapping from old quarantine charge items to new Biosecurity Charges Imposition instruments.

Preservation of pre‑commencement Quarantine Act effects where necessary. Where operational continuity is required, the instrument expressly preserves the effect of the Quarantine Act as it was before commencement. For example, several Schedule 2 substitutions retain “as in force before 16 June 2016” language when referring to the Quarantine Act (Schedule 2 items 5, 7, 10). This creates a temporal bridge where old legal consequences continue to be recognised for acts occurring under the Quarantine Act prior to the Biosecurity Act commencement.

Cross‑linking to Biosecurity Regulation 2016. Schedule 3 frequently references specific provisions of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 (for example, section 31 in item 2(4), section 110 in item 5(2), section 112 in notes to items 3-5). The transitional mechanics therefore require parties to consult the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 in order to understand the operational effect of the transitional provisions. The instrument does not replicate the text of those provisions; it references them as part of the new legal ecosystem.

Effect on sectoral instruments. The instrument amends sectoral regulations in a targeted way. For example, the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003 are updated to change “quarantine officer” to “biosecurity officer” (Schedule 2 items 21-24). Gene Technology Regulations 2001 and National Health regulations are amended to identify the Department administered by the Minister administering Part 1 of Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 as the relevant Department for certain functions (Schedule 2 items 4 and 13, and item 25). Aviation and maritime security regulations are similarly updated. Those amendments reassign operational responsibility for particular functions from the old quarantine body to the body operating under the Biosecurity Act.

Judicial review and emergency powers. By amending the ADJR Regulations to expressly include decisions under Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act, the instrument interacts with existing administrative review frameworks (Schedule 2 item 1). It therefore aligns emergency biosecurity decision‑making with the ADJR Act’s review structures.

Customs duty relief linkage. Schedule 2 item 10 replaces clause entries in the Customs Regulation to ensure that duty relief and similar customs consequences apply where goods deteriorate while undergoing treatment under the Biosecurity Act or the pre‑commencement Quarantine Act. That alters how customs law and biosecurity law intersect where goods are damaged in treatment for public interest biosecurity reasons.

Overall, the regulation is a mapping instrument that reassigns legal relationships from the Quarantine statutory framework to the Biosecurity framework, while preserving specific pre‑commencement rights and liabilities and incorporating recovery and enforcement via the Biosecurity legislative instruments referenced.

This instrument was made on 05 May 2016 and dated accordingly (document front page). Reg 2 sets the commencement arrangement: the whole of the instrument commences “at the same time as section 3 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 commences” with a date recorded in the commencement table as 16 June 2016 (reg 2(1) and the commencement table). Reg 3 lists the statutory authority under which the instrument is made, citing a long list of enabling Acts, including the Biosecurity (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2015 and the Quarantine Acts and associated fees Acts.

Schedule 1 effects repeals of prior quarantine instruments:

• Quarantine Charges (Collection) Regulation 2014 , the whole regulation is repealed (Schedule 1 item 1).
• Quarantine Charges (Imposition,Customs) Regulation 2014 , whole regulation repealed (Schedule 1 item 2).
• Quarantine Charges (Imposition,General) Regulation 2015 , whole regulation repealed (Schedule 1 item 3).
• Quarantine Regulations 2000 , the whole Regulations repealed (Schedule 1 item 4).

Schedule 2 contains the consequential amendments. Key amendments include:

• Changes to Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Regulations 1985 paragraphs 3(h) and (i) with new text about decisions under Parts of Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Schedule 2 item 1).
• Insertion of the definition “biosecurity official” in the Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005 and multiple replacements of “quarantine officer” with “biosecurity officer” across maritime and aviation security regulations (Schedule 2 items 2-4, 21-24).
• Modifications to Customs Regulation 2015 to change application periods and references to release from “biosecurity control” or “released from quarantine under the Quarantine Act 1908 as in force before 16 June 2016” (Schedule 2 items 5-10).
• Repeal of references in a range of other instruments, and substitution of references to the Department administered by the minister responsible for Part 1 of Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 in several instruments (Schedule 2 items 4, 13, 26-27).
• Repeals of specific schedule items in other Acts to remove obsolete quarantine references (Schedule 2 items 11-12, 18, 28).

Schedule 3 provides the transitional provisions to bridge the repealed instruments and the new Biosecurity framework. It defines the terms used in the Schedule (Schedule 3 item 1) and then sets out specific transitional rules on IRAs, fees for services where no demand was made, quarantine charges for which no demand was made, late payment fees, and treatment of pending applications for permits, co‑regulatory approvals and compliance agreements (Schedule 3 items 2-10).

The instrument contains notes that explicitly tie certain transitional consequences to provisions of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 and the Biosecurity Act (for instance, references to section 31 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 for IRA timelines, and to section 112 for agent liability). The commencement table note states the table relates only to the instrument as originally made and will not be amended to account for later amendments.

There is no textual record in the instrument of subsequent amendments to this Regulation itself; the text presented is the instrument as originally made and commenced. To track any later amendments to this instrument, one must consult the consolidated Commonwealth legislation database and Federal Register of Legislation for later amending instruments.

The instrument itself does not record any litigation nor does it name any cases. It is a regulation that effects consequential amendments and transitional provisions; the text provided contains no references to judicial decisions or litigation outcomes. Accordingly, the instrument does not include a litigation history.

Practitioners seeking to understand legal contestation involving the Biosecurity Act regime will need to consult subsequent case law concerning the Biosecurity Act 2015, the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 and related administrative decisions. That case law would be external to this instrument; the instrument simply maps the legal framework and transitional treatment.

For present purposes, the instrument’s amendments to the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Regulations 1985 (Schedule 2 item 1) may affect the pathway and scope for judicial review of decisions made under Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act (emergency declarations and actions during emergency periods). Whether that mapping results in litigation over particular decisions will depend on later administrative actions and claims under the ADJR Act and the courts’ interpretation of the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016. Those are matters outside the instrument’s text and therefore not recorded here.

The instrument contains a number of transitional mechanisms and cross‑references that create practical hazards for regulated parties and their advisers. These are actionable “gotchas” that arise directly from the text.

Conversion of pre‑commencement debts into cost‑recovery charges on demand. If a service was provided before the commencement day and no demand had yet been made, the fee becomes due when a demand is later made and is treated as a cost‑recovery charge (Schedule 3 item 3). Practitioners must not assume that unpaid historical fees have been extinguished by repeal; they are revived as enforceable cost‑recovery debts once the Department issues a demand. The identity of the liable person remains the person to whom the service was provided (Schedule 3 item 3(3)), and agents are jointly liable per the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 (note). That joint and several liability can be an unexpected exposure for agents who may have thought their role ended on payment by principals.

Retention of pre‑commencement liability rules. For quarantine charges, Schedule 3 item 4 preserves who is liable by reference to the old instruments’ section 7 “as in force immediately before the commencement day.” That means parties need to consult now‑repealed instruments to determine who remains liable during transition. Failure to check the historic instrument could lead to misidentification of the debtor.

Partial non‑application rules are narrowly tailored. Items 6-8 create non‑application rules for certain fees, but only in specific factual circumstances (for instance, where the initial assessment fee had already been paid under the Quarantine Service Fees Determination 2005, Schedule 3 item 6). These non‑application protections do not offer blanket immunity; they apply only where the instrument’s precise preconditions are satisfied. Parties must document payments made under the prior frameworks and be ready to prove the timing and basis for those payments.

Director discretion and equivalence findings in IRAs. Schedule 3 item 2 permits the Director of Biosecurity to continue an existing IRA as a BIRA and to treat requirements in the prescribed BIRA process as satisfied where equivalent pre‑commencement steps were taken. The device vests substantive administrative discretion in the Director to assess equivalence and to determine which requirements are taken to have been complied with. The Director must publish a notice identifying the existing IRA and specifying what is treated as complied with (Schedule 3 item 2(3)). The practical risk is uncertainty: regulated parties may be unsure which steps were accepted as equivalent and what residual procedural steps remain. That can affect stakeholders’ ability to participate or to predict timelines.

Timeframe modification for continued IRAs. For continued IRAs, Schedule 3 item 2(4) modifies the effect of section 31 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 by replacing the “within the period of 30 months commencing on the day the notice in relation to the BIRA was given under section 24” timeline with “as soon as practicable after the report is prepared” and omitting subsections 31(2)-(8). That alters statutory time constraints for those particular analyses and could change the practical window for public consultation or reporting.

Cross‑reference dependency. The instrument frequently references the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 (sections 31, 110, 112) and the Biosecurity Act (Divisions 3 and 4 of Part 3 of Chapter 11) for recovery and agent liability rules (Schedule 3 items and notes). Those provisions are not replicated in the instrument; practitioners therefore need to consult those external instruments to understand enforcement mechanics. Missing that step could lead to miscalculation of penalties, recovery avenues or agent exposures.

Customs interaction caveats. Amendments to Customs Regulation 2015 change language about release from quarantine to release from biosecurity control under the Biosecurity Act or release under the pre‑commencement Quarantine Act (Schedule 2 item 5). That can affect application periods under customs rules and duty relief triggers (Schedule 2 item 10 substitution). Importers and customs brokers must map the precise moment of “release” against the Biosecurity Act’s processes to ensure timely applications.

2015-16 financial year charge exceptions are narrow. Items 9 and 10 provide that persons are not liable to pay certain compliance agreement charges for the 2015-16 financial year if they have already paid specified quarantine charges in that year under the previous instruments. The exemptions are retrospective and limited to that financial year and identified items. Entities must reconcile payments in that specific fiscal year to secure the exemption; payments outside that year are not covered by these items.

Administrative review scope changes. The ADJR Regulations amendment (Schedule 2 item 1) includes biosecurity emergency decisions under the ADJR regulatory mapping. That affects the scope of judicial review but does not itself explain procedural differences or any limits on review provided by the Biosecurity Act. Parties should not assume the ADJR pathway is identical in operation post‑mapping without checking the ADJR Regulations and the Biosecurity Act.

In short, the main gotchas are (1) revived historic debts treated as cost‑recovery charges; (2) agent joint liability being imported; (3) narrow, conditional exemptions and non‑application rules that require documentary proof; (4) Director discretion in continuing IRAs with its attendant uncertainty; and (5) a dependency on Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016 texts for operative procedural and enforcement details. Each of these points follows directly from the instrument’s wording and its references.

This regulation moves existing quarantine obligations and pending processes into the Biosecurity Act framework. Compliance therefore requires both record reconciliation of pre‑commencement activity and active engagement with the new Biosecurity statutory instruments. The steps below are grounded in the instrument’s transitional items and consequential amendments.

1. Reconcile historic payments and demands

• Identify any quarantine service provided to you or your client before 16 June 2016 for which no demand was made (Schedule 3 item 3). Keep supporting documents showing the service provided, dates, and any communications.
• Identify any quarantine charge under the old quarantine charge instruments for which no demand had been made before commencement (Schedule 3 item 4). Determine who was the liable person under section 7 of the now‑repealed imposition instruments (Schedule 3 item 4(3)). That may require consulting the old instruments’ section 7 text to confirm identity of debtor.
• Where payments were made in the 2015-16 financial year relevant to compliance agreements, reconcile payments against items 9 and 10 to confirm whether the person is not liable to pay the corresponding Imported Food Charges for that financial year.

2. Prepare for possible post‑commencement demands

• Treat any outstanding historic fees or charges as potentially payable on demand and prepare cashflow provisions to meet such demands once issued (Schedule 3 items 3(2) and 4(2)).
• Remember that once a demand is made those historic fees and charges will be treated as cost‑recovery charges under the Biosecurity Act and recovered under the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 mechanisms (Schedule 3 items 3(4) and 4(4); notes referencing Divisions 3 and 4 of Part 3 of Chapter 11 of the Biosecurity Act).
• For agents, be aware of joint and several liability under section 112 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 as cited in notes; ensure agency agreements allocate risk and the agent’s exposure is insured or otherwise managed.

3. Document payments that should prevent further charges

• Where you or your client have paid an initial assessment fee under the Quarantine Service Fees Determination 2005 before commencement, document that payment clearly because Schedule 3 item 6 prevents charging the initial assessment fee again under Part 2 of Chapter 9 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016.
• For co‑regulatory approval and compliance agreement applications that were in train immediately before commencement, check whether the charge referred to in item 12 of the Biosecurity Charges Imposition regulations should not be applied to your application (Schedule 3 items 7 and 8). Maintain evidence of prior fee payments and application dates.

4. For IRAs in progress, engage with the Director of Biosecurity

• If an import risk analysis was started under the Quarantine Regulations but not completed before commencement, anticipate that the Director may treat it as a BIRA and that certain process requirements may be taken to have been complied with if they were satisfied under the old IRA (Schedule 3 item 2(2)). Compile a timeline and evidence of pre‑commencement steps taken so that equivalence can be demonstrated.
• Monitor the Agriculture Department’s website for the mandatory notice the Director must publish identifying the continuing IRA as a BIRA and stating what is taken to have been complied with (Schedule 3 item 2(3)). Use that notice to establish the new process timetable and any remaining steps.

5. Update operational terminology and process maps

• Update internal compliance manuals, job descriptions and training materials to replace references to “quarantine officer” and “quarantine” where substituted by “biosecurity officer” and “biosecurity control” in the sectoral regulations amended by Schedule 2 (see, for example, Schedule 2 items 2-4, 21-24).
• Ensure that the Department to be contacted is the Department administered by the Minister administering Part 1 of Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 where Schedule 2 substitutes refer to that Department (Schedule 2 items 4, 13 and others).

6. Review customs and duty relief claims

• For goods that were under customs control and were treated, deteriorated or destroyed while undergoing treatment, check the substituted Customs Regulation 2015 Clause 1 of Schedule 6 (Schedule 2 item 10) which ties duty relief to treatment under the Biosecurity Act 2015 or the prior Quarantine Act. Ensure claim timing and factual records of treatment and customs control are assembled and align with the substituted text.

7. Prepare for late payment exposure

• Recognise that late payment fees may apply under section 110 of the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 as applied by Schedule 3 item 5(2). Determine who in your organisation is the proper debtor per Schedule 3 item 5(3) for any late payment fee, and ensure internal invoicing and payment systems are ready to avoid accrual of late payment fees.

8. Confirm judicial review processes

• If you are affected by emergency declarations or actions during a biosecurity emergency period, note that decisions under Chapter 8 of the Biosecurity Act are now captured by the ADJR Regulations as amended (Schedule 2 item 1). Review the ADJR Regulations and the Biosecurity Act to understand timelines and procedural requirements for seeking judicial review.

9. Coordinate with customs brokers and agents

• Confirm contractual arrangements with agents in light of joint and several liability under the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 (Schedule 3 notes referencing section 112). Consider indemnities and risk allocation clauses for historic debts revived as cost‑recovery charges.

10. Consult the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016 texts

• Many operational and enforcement details are imported by reference; Schedule 3 makes the Biosecurity Act and Biosecurity Regulation 2016 the operative instruments for recovery, late payment fees, and agent liability. Obtain copies of those instruments and map their relevant provisions (for example, sections cited in Schedule 3: section 31, section 110, section 112; and the Divisions referenced in notes) into your compliance universe.

Finally, where uncertainty remains about the scope of the Director’s discretion (in equivalence findings for IRAs) or about any demand issued after commencement, seek early administrative engagement and preserve rights to review under the ADJR framework as appropriate. Keep contemporaneous records of services rendered, fees paid and communications with Departmental officers to support claims that particular fees or charges should not be applied post‑commencement.