Tariff Concession Order 0702860

The Order relies on three textual concepts set out within its own text: identification of goods, application of a Schedule 4 item, and temporal scope. Each concept is expressed in narrow, concrete terms in the Order.

Identification of goods: The Order identifies the goods by two complementary elements recorded in Column 1 of the Table: a six-digit tariff classification number "4005.99.00" and a textual description "SHEETING, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), compounded, unvulcanised." The description includes an operational code fragment "Op. 23.02.07 - TC 0702860" which appears to restate the operative date and the instrument identifier. The Order therefore anchors its reach to goods that match the numerical classification and the textual description as presented in the Table.

Application of a Schedule 4 item: The central declaratory sentence states that the goods in Column 1 "are goods to which the item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 specified in Column 2 of THE TABLE applies." The Order does not reproduce the text of the applicable Schedule 4 item, nor does it explain the legal consequences of that item within this instrument. The mechanism, as described, is a cross-reference: the Order performs the legal act of declaring that the listed goods will be treated as goods to which a specified Schedule 4 item applies. The Table header for Column 2 reads "Schedule 4 Item Number Last date of effect", indicating Column 2 is intended to carry both the Schedule 4 item number and any fixed terminal date for the Order's operation; in practice the single entry in the cell is "50", which the instrument does not further explain.

Temporal scope and revocation: The Order states an explicit commencement date, "This Order shall have effect from 23.02.07", and it limits duration by reference to the revocation provisions of the Customs Act, stating the Order continues "until revoked under sections 269SC or 269SD of the Act, or the date, if any, specified in Column 2." The instrument thus delegates the termination mechanism to statutory processes identified by section numbers, and to any terminal date presented in Column 2 of the Table.

Delegated decision-making and signature: The instrument is signed by "Michael Perry", who signs as "Delegate of the Chief Executive Officer" and dates the signature 18 May 2007. The opening line explicitly names delegation under "Section 269P of the Customs Act 1901", thereby situating the source of authority for the declaration in a specific statutory delegation, as invoked in the text.

Document identity and traceability: The Table entry includes "TC 0702860", an internal identifier that the instrument uses to label itself; the Order is presented as a single-page document and marked "This is page 1 of 1", which evidences minimal content but a formalised record of the declaration.

These are the core concepts conveyed by the Order itself. The document contains no other provisions such as compliance instructions, penalty clauses, or definitions beyond the lines quoted above. Any effect beyond the three concepts must be inferred from the interaction of this Order with the external statutory texts it cites, which the Order does not reproduce.

The Order identifies, by its text, a narrow set of affected parties through the goods it lists and the statutory mechanism it invokes. The primary directly affected group is persons or entities dealing with the goods described in Column 1, namely items identified by tariff classification "4005.99.00" and the textual description "SHEETING, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), compounded, unvulcanised." The Order’s operative sentence declares those goods are goods to which a particular item in Part III of Schedule 4 applies. Therefore the primary behavioural stake falls on importers, customs brokers, traders, and any party that presents goods to customs for classification and treatment where the listed description and classification apply.

The document also directly engages the issuing administrative apparatus. The signatory is a delegate of the Chief Executive Officer, suggesting the administrative actor who made the declaration is a delegate exercising the authority conferred by "Section 269P of the Customs Act 1901", as stated. The Order thereby affects the internal functions of the customs administration insofar as it becomes an operative record that customs officers, tariff officers, and policy units must recognise when implementing Schedule 4 items.

Other affected parties include any downstream users of documentation that refer to tariff treatment, for example accountants preparing import costings, compliance officers verifying correct classification, or legal advisers advising on import duty treatment. The Order itself does not name duties, fees, or quantitative changes; it ties a listed good to a referenced Schedule 4 item. Therefore anyone who relies on classification and tariff treatment will need to treat this Order as a source document linking the specific SBR sheeting described to the Schedule 4 item named in Column 2.

The Order does not specify penalties, exemptions, or administrative conditions in its text, and it does not name other affected persons. Where the Order’s effect interacts with broader statutory rights and obligations, the other statutes cited,the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995,will create additional points of effect. The Order explicitly references revocation under "sections 269SC or 269SD of the Act", which means persons affected should monitor revocation processes governed by those sections, as identified in the Order. The Order’s limited content, being mainly declaratory and referential, means it functions as a binding cross-reference for the listed goods that those with transactional, compliance, or administrative interests need to incorporate into practice.

The Order itself contains no express operational duties, compliance steps, or legal rights beyond the single declaratory act. Its operative language is limited to the declaration that the goods listed in Column 1 "are goods to which the item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 specified in Column 2 of THE TABLE applies." Consequently the Order creates a legal relation only by its cross-reference: rights and duties in relation to those goods will arise, if at all, from the content of the Schedule 4 item in Part III of the Customs Tariff Act 1995 and from the enabling and revocation provisions of the Customs Act 1901. This instrument does not reproduce any of those rights or duties.

From the Order’s own text a few categorical statements about duties and rights can be made. First, the declaratory character means that a person handling the specified goods must treat those goods as within the scope of the referenced Schedule 4 item, because the Order declares the legal fact that the item applies to the goods. Second, the temporal clauses mean the declaration takes effect from 23 February 2007 and continues until revoked under the statutory revocation provisions or until any date recorded in Column 2; therefore rights or duties that stem from the Schedule 4 item will attach for the period the Order is in effect as defined by the Order’s stated rules.

The Order identifies the authorising source as "Section 269P of the Customs Act 1901", which implies the delegate had statutory authority to make the declaration. The signature block confirms a delegate executed the instrument, reading "Michael Perry........................Dated 18 May 2007 Delegate of the Chief Executive Officer." The Order therefore creates an administrative record of a delegated decision, and any rights of review or procedural safeguards that might apply will be matters addressed in the enabling statute, not in the Order itself.

The Order does not specify mechanisms for appeal, review, or challenge. It does not provide express instructions to customs officers about implementation steps, nor does it set out record-keeping obligations for importers. It does not state who may rely on the Order in private disputes. Therefore practitioners should read the Order as a declaratory linking instrument: it identifies that, for the time it is effective, a particular Schedule 4 item applies to goods matching the listed classification and description, and any substantive rights or duties flow from the referenced statutory materials.

The Order contains no provisions imposing penalties, sanctioning non-compliance, or setting enforcement processes within its four corners. Its text is confined to declaration, identification, and temporal scope, and it does not purport to create criminal or civil penalties, or administrative fines. The only enforcement-related references are indirect: the Order states it will "continue in force until revoked under sections 269SC or 269SD of the Act", which signals that revocation and the lifecycle of the Order are handled through statutory mechanisms specified in the Customs Act 1901, but the Order does not reproduce or summarise what those statutory sections contain about enforcement, review, or consequences.

Because the Order declares that certain goods are goods to which a Schedule 4 item applies, enforcement consequences for incorrect classification or misstatement of goods will depend on provisions located in the broader statutory framework: the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995. The Order itself does not specify the consequences of treating goods contrary to the declaration, such as a declaration that a person who imports goods not matching the description will be liable for penalties. Therefore any enforcement measures that affect importers or other participants will derive from the statutes cited, not from the Order text.

The Order is signed and dated, which creates an administrative record that may be relied upon by customs officials in applying the referenced Schedule 4 item. Where enforcement or disputes arise about whether the goods imported fall within the Order’s description, the Order provides the textual basis for arguing that goods matching "4005.99.00" and "SHEETING, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), compounded, unvulcanised" are within the scope of the Schedule 4 item specified in Column 2. Absent any penalties being stated in the Order, counsel and compliance officers will need to look to the enabling statutes for the applicable penalty and enforcement regimes.

In summary, the Order makes a declaratory linking statement and does not itself create or detail penalties or enforcement processes. The only enforcement-relevant content in the instrument is the cross-reference to the statutory revocation sections, which places lifecycle control of the Order in the statutory regime.

The Order explicitly locates its authority and effect within two external legislative instruments by textual reference. It is made "Under Section 269P of the Customs Act 1901", and it declares that the listed goods are "goods to which the item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 specified in Column 2 of THE TABLE applies." The Order also relies on the revocation processes in the Customs Act, referencing sections "269SC or 269SD." The instrument therefore operates as an administrative device that binds the listed goods to provisions in the referenced Schedule 4; the Order itself does not reproduce those other statutes or explain their content.

Practical legal interaction: The Order serves as a cross-reference that links a specific tariff classification and textual goods description to a Schedule 4 item. That link means the effects, legal rights, duties, or tariff outcomes that follow are determined by the content of the referenced Schedule 4 item and the statutory mechanisms in the Customs Act 1901. The Order is not a freestanding code; it is an administrative act that alters or clarifies legal treatment by specifying which Schedule 4 item applies to particular goods. Any interpretation of how customs duties, concessions, or other tariff treatment apply will therefore require consulting Part III of Schedule 4 and the Customs Act. The Order’s applicability period is shaped by the statutory revocation provisions it cites: it "continue[s] in force until revoked under sections 269SC or 269SD of the Act", or until a date recorded in Column 2, if any appears.

Documentary interaction: The Table includes a column header combining an item number and "Last date of effect", but the only entry present in Column 2 is "50". The Order does not explain whether "50" is the Schedule 4 item number, a terminal date encoded numerically, or another coding convention. This means any practitioner relying on the Order should consult the corresponding Schedule 4 entries to see which item "50" might identify, and to reconcile the instrument against statutory text.

Administrative interaction: The Order is signed by a delegate, "Michael Perry", indicating that the power to make the declaration was exercised by an authorised official under Section 269P. Hence internal administrative law doctrines about delegation, the exercise of delegated authority, and any statutory constraints on such delegation will be relevant when analysing the Order, but the Order itself does not recite those constraints.

In sum, the Order interacts with other laws by cross-reference and delegation. Its legal force and practical implications depend entirely on the content and operation of the external provisions it names. The Order creates an administrative linkage that must be read in conjunction with the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995.

The Order as presented is a single-page instrument and includes limited temporal metadata. The key temporal data embedded in the instrument are the operative date, the apparent order identifier, and a signature date. The operative commencement date is stated explicitly: "This Order shall have effect from 23.02.07." The Table’s Column 1 description repeats "Op. 23.02.07 - TC 0702860", which restates the operative date and the instrument code "TC 0702860." The signature block is dated "18 May 2007" and signed by "Michael Perry", who is identified as "Delegate of the Chief Executive Officer." The document is presented as "This is page 1 of 1 Page of the above Table", which implies there are no extant schedule-based amendments printed on further pages in this instrument.

No textual record of subsequent amendments, revocations, or expiries appears on the face of the Order. The Order explicitly contemplates termination by revocation under "sections 269SC or 269SD of the Act", or by "the date, if any, specified in Column 2." The Table does not include an explicit calendar date in Column 2; instead the cell contains the entry "50." The Order therefore does not, on its face, contain an express terminal calendar date or any further amendment notation.

Because the Order does not reproduce the enabling sections it cites, it does not include a record of any earlier versions of the TCO, nor does it record whether it replaced a prior concession or whether it was later varied. The Order number "TC 0702860" provides an administrative handle that in the issuing authority’s records could correspond to amendment history entries, however those records are not part of the text before us.

For practitioners, the absence of an express expiry date in Column 2 and the explicit reference to statutory revocation provisions means that amendment or expiry will be effected by procedures and instruments referenced in the Customs Act 1901 and possibly by subsequent administrative orders. The Order itself contains no annotation of being a replacement or an amendment of an earlier TCO, nor does it include any textual history such as "amended by" or "reissued." Any search for an amendment trail therefore requires consulting external registers or records that are not reproduced in the instrument.

In short, the Order records an operative date and an administrative identifier, and provides revocation pathways by reference to statutory sections, but it includes no internal amendment log or later-dated modifications on its face.

The instrument contains no reference to litigation, court decisions, challenges, or administrative appeals. It is a pure administrative order without annotations, footnotes, or case citations. As printed, the document does not report any legal proceedings that have engaged the Order, and it contains no textual history of judicial interpretation.

Because the Order operates by cross-reference to provisions of the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995, disputes that might arise from the Order as applied could be litigated under those statutes. However the Order itself offers no record of such challenges; there is no mention, for example, of stays, injunctions, declaratory judgments, or case numbers. The only legal process expressly noted in the Order is the administrative revocation routes under "sections 269SC or 269SD of the Act", which are procedural references rather than indications of litigation.

Practitioners reviewing this Order should therefore treat it as an administrative device that can be the subject of litigation only insofar as disputes arise about its validity, interpretation, or application under the relevant statutes. Any litigation history would appear in external case law, court records, or administrative tribunal files, none of which are reproduced in the text of this Order.

The Order's lack of litigation annotations means one cannot cite any judicial authority based on the document itself. Where parties dispute whether particular goods fall within the description "SHEETING, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), compounded, unvulcanised" or whether the Schedule 4 item specified by "50" should be applied, any adjudication would be recorded in judicial sources external to this text. The Order does not identify any such adjudicative history.

This Order has a small number of textual features that give rise to practical ambiguity and latent compliance risks, as the Order itself demonstrates.

1. Combined header ambiguity in Column 2, and the single content item "50": The Table header for Column 2 reads "Schedule 4 Item Number Last date of effect", conflating two distinct data elements into a single column. The only entry under that header is the number "50". The Order does not explain whether "50" is intended to be the Schedule 4 item number, an encoded representation of a terminal date, or some internal code. The absence of explicit labelling within the cell creates uncertainty for those seeking to match the Order to a specific Part III Schedule 4 item or to confirm the Order’s expiry date. Practitioners cannot rely on the face of the Order alone to determine what "50" denotes.

2. Discrepancy between operative date and signature date: The Order states it "shall have effect from 23.02.07", while the signature block is dated 18 May 2007. The Table entry also repeats the operative date "Op. 23.02.07." The textual form therefore records an operative date that precedes the signature date by almost three months. The Order does not comment on retroactivity or the legal basis for an operative date earlier than the signature date. Users and counsel should note that the instrument purports to have had effect from 23 February 2007 despite being signed on 18 May 2007, and should seek documentary confirmation of administrative practice or statutory authority if the timing matters in a transactional, accounting, or litigation context.

3. Narrow textual description: The goods are described as "SHEETING, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), compounded, unvulcanised". That description is precise but may require interpretive work where imported goods are mixtures, partially processed, or described differently in commercial invoices. The Order does not provide further definitional criteria, or parameters such as dimensions, uses, or compositional thresholds. In borderline cases, customs officers, importers, and counsel will need to determine whether a particular consignment falls within the textual description or within the tariff classification "4005.99.00".

4. Lack of explicit tariff or treatment detail in the Order: The Order states that the goods "are goods to which the item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 specified in Column 2 of THE TABLE applies", but the Order does not reproduce the text of that Schedule 4 item, or state the consequences of its application. Practitioners must look up the referenced Part III Schedule 4 item to understand the legal treatment, economic effect, compliance obligations, or any conditions associated with the concession. Failure to do so risks incorrect application.

5. No internal record of amendment or expiry: The instrument contains no explicit expiry date on its face beyond the opaque "50" entry and the reference to statutory revocation. That creates a risk for traders and compliance officers who rely solely on the text of the Order without checking external registers for any subsequent revocation, suspension, or variation effected under the statutory provisions referenced.

6. Administrative identifier and traceability: The Table includes "TC 0702860" as an internal identifier. If users reference administrative databases or customs registers, they should match that identifier to ensure they have the correct instrument, since other instruments with similar descriptions could exist. The Order itself does not provide a public register link.

These features mean that for routine commercial or compliance use, relied-upon parties must obtain and cross-check the corresponding entries in the operative statutes and in any administrative registers that record revocations or current status. The Order’s brevity leaves these matters to external confirmation.

This instrument is limited to the declaratory step of linking a specific goods description and tariff classification to a referenced Schedule 4 item. As such, compliance in relation to this Order breaks into discrete practical steps, each of which derives from the Order’s own text.

1. Verify goods match the Table description: The Order explicitly identifies the goods by tariff classification "4005.99.00" and by the textual description "SHEETING, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), compounded, unvulcanised." A first compliance step for importers and brokers is to establish whether the particular product being imported matches that classification and description. Because the Order contains no further definitional guidance, documentation such as commercial invoices, bills of lading, product specifications, technical data sheets, and manufacturing declarations should be assembled to demonstrate that the goods correspond to the terms used in the Order.

2. Reconcile Column 2: The Table’s Column 2 is headed "Schedule 4 Item Number Last date of effect" and contains the entry "50." Compliance requires identifying which Schedule 4 item the Order intends to apply. Practitioners should locate Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 and search for an item that corresponds to "50" or otherwise matches the administrative identifier "TC 0702860." Do not assume the number "50" is a calendar date. Where uncertainty persists, seek clarification from the relevant customs authority or consult the official administrative register where Tariff Concession Orders are recorded.

3. Determine the legal consequences of the Schedule 4 item: The Order does not state the substantive legal or financial effect of the referenced Schedule 4 item. Practitioners must therefore consult the text of Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to ascertain what obligations, rights, duties, tariff treatments, or conditions attach to the application of that item. Ensure the commodities are compliant with any conditions set out in the Schedule 4 item.

4. Establish effective dates and lifecycle: The Order states it takes effect from 23 February 2007 and continues until revoked under "sections 269SC or 269SD" or until any date recorded in Column 2. Practically, businesses should record the referenced operative date and confirm whether the instrument remains in force. Because the signature date is 18 May 2007, and because Column 2 does not contain an explicit calendar expiry, check the public register or administrative records for any subsequent revocations, suspensions, or replacements under the statutory revocation provisions.

5. Maintain documentary evidence: When relying on the Order for tariff treatment, maintain a copy of the Order with the customs entries and with supporting product documentation. The Order includes the identifier "TC 0702860" and the text "Op. 23.02.07" in the Table entry, which should be referenced in import declarations and in internal compliance files.

6. Monitor revocation provisions: The Order’s termination is governed by statutory sections "269SC" and "269SD" of the Customs Act 1901. Compliance programmes should include monitoring of revocation notices issued under those sections, administrative bulletins, and any official notification channels the customs authority uses. Because the Order does not itself provide revocation details, a practice of periodic verification is required to ensure ongoing entitlement to any treatment that follows from the Schedule 4 item.

7. Seek administrative clarification where necessary: Given the ambiguity noted in Column 2 and the narrow textual description of the goods, if there is any doubt about whether a consignment falls within the Order, seek a private ruling or formal classification decision from the customs authority where permitted, or obtain written confirmation referencing TC 0702860 and the Schedule 4 item.

8. Coordinate accounting and tax teams: If any financial advantages or altered duty liabilities flow from the application of the Schedule 4 item, coordinate with accounting and tax teams to ensure declarations, costings, and financial reporting reflect the correct treatment and that supporting documentation is held.

These steps follow directly from the text of the Order. The instrument does not itself provide procedural instructions, so compliance requires active cross-referencing to the referenced Schedule 4 item, confirmation of the Order’s current operative status, and appropriate documentary controls.