21Declarations by Minister or Commission

##### 21 Declarations by Minister or Commission (1) The Minister, or the Commission with the approval of the Minister, may by instrument in writing published in the Gazette: (a) declare goods or services of a specified description to be notified goods or services for the purposes of this Act; (b) declare a person to be, in relation to goods or services of a specified description, a declared person for the purposes of this Act; or (c) declare a supply of goods or services of a specified description, being a supply in a specified manner, of a specified kind or in specified circumstances, to be an exempt supply for the purposes of this Act. (1A) The Minister must not make or approve a declaration of a State or Territory authority unless: (a) the appropriate Minister of the State or Territory concerned has agreed to the declaration being made; or (b) the National Competition Council has, on the request of an Australian government, recommended the declaration and the Minister has consulted the appropriate Minister of the State or Territory concerned. (1B) The National Competition Council must not recommend a declaration of a State or Territory authority in relation to goods or services unless the Council is satisfied that: (a) at least one Australian government has notified the State or Territory concerned that the Australian government is not satisfied that there is effective supervision of the prices charged by the authority for the supply of those goods or services; and (b) there is not effective supervision of prices charged by the authority for the supply of those goods or services; and (c) the supply of those goods or services by the authority has a significant direct or indirect impact on trade or commerce described in paragraph 4(1)(g) or trade and commerce between Australia and another place. (1C) The National Competition Council must not recommend a declaration of a State or Territory authority in relation to goods or services if: (a) at any time during the period of 5 years before the Council received the request mentioned in paragraph (1A)(b), the Council was satisfied (when considering a previous request) that there was effective supervision of prices charged by the State or Territory authority for the supply of those goods or services; and (b) the Council is satisfied that there has not been a substantial change in the mechanism for that supervision since the Council was satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (a). (1D) In deciding whether there is effective supervision of prices charged by a State or Territory authority, where the State or Territory concerned is a party to the Competition Principles Agreement made on 11 April 1995 between the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, the National Competition Council must apply the relevant principles set out in the agreement. (1E) A declaration under paragraph (1)(b) must specify the time when it is to cease to have effect. (2) The Minister, or the Commission with the approval of the Minister, may by instrument in writing published in the Gazette revoke or vary a declaration under subsection (1). (3) A declaration under paragraph (1)(b) ceases to have effect at the time specified under subsection (1E), unless the declaration is revoked sooner. (4) In this section: > Australian government means the Commonwealth, a State, the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory.