Tariff Concession Revocation Order 14/2012 - Tariff Concession Order 1132500

The instrument relies on a small set of administrative and tariff concepts that are explicit in its text. Those concepts, in the language of the instrument, are:

• Revocation and replacement. The delegate exercises power under s 269SD(2) of the Customs Act 1901 to revoke a previously made Tariff Concession Order (TCO No. 0708942) and to make a replacement TCO (TC 1132500). The instrument sets the effective date for the revocation, and states the replacement TCO "shall have effect from the date notified in paragraph (a) above as the date of effect for the Revocation" (instrument header).

• Tariff Concession Order (TCO). Both TABLE A and TABLE B are presented as TCO entries that describe a set of goods (Column 1) and identify a Schedule 4 Part III item number that applies to those goods (Column 2). The instrument’s function is to map the described goods to a Schedule 4 item number by way of the TCO entry.

• Customs Tariff classification number. The instrument records the customs classification numbers (statistical/tariff headings) applied to the described goods. TABLE A lists the goods under tariff classification 7615.19.00; TABLE B lists the same goods under 7615.10.00. The classification numbers appear as part of the "Description of Goods including the Customs Tariff Classification" column.

• Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995. The instrument explicitly ties the TCO replacement to Part III of Schedule 4 of the Customs Tariff Act 1995. It states that the goods in Column 1 of TABLE B "are goods to which the item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 specified in Column 2 of TABLE B applies" (instrument header). The instrument therefore operates by specifying which Schedule 4 item entry governs tariff treatment for imports of the listed goods.

• Effective dates and administrative identification. The instrument records the original TCO opening date (Op. 13.06.07 for TC 0708942) and the new TCO opening date (Op. 01.01.12 for TC 1132500), the revocation effective date (01.01.12), and provides identifying numbers for each TCO (TC 0708942 and TC 1132500). It is executed and dated by the delegate (Robert Crawford) on 30 November 2011.

Each of these concepts is operational rather than descriptive of policy. The instrument does not set rates, prescribe compliance procedures, or define penalties; it maps described goods to an item number within Schedule 4 of the Customs Tariff Act 1995, and records the administrative act of revocation and substitution.

The instrument affects parties whose import declarations, customs classifications, or other customs-related paperwork identify the listed aluminium tableware. The instrument itself describes in Column 1 of TABLE A and TABLE B an extensive list of aluminium tableware articles (for example, "baskets; bottles; bowls; card holders; cruets; cups; decanters; dishes; ... tea pots; tea strainers; toast racks; trays; trivets; tumblers; tureens; wine cooling buckets; wine pouring cradles; wine bottle stands") (TABLE A and TABLE B, Column 1). Any person or entity that imports, declares, classifies, sells or distributes those specific items under the customs code referenced in the instrument will be affected from the effective date.

Specifically, stakeholders likely impacted, as indicated by the instrument’s subject matter, include:

• Importers and their customs brokers, because the instrument changes the tariff classification (from 7615.19.00 to 7615.10.00) and the Schedule 4 item number that applies to those described goods, and import declarations completed on or after 01.01.12 will need to reflect the new TCO item (instrument header; TABLE A and TABLE B).
• Distributors and wholesalers who rely on the tariff treatment of imported aluminium tableware, because any change in tariff treatment might affect landed cost; the instrument’s mapping of goods to a different Schedule 4 item number is the mechanism by which tariff treatment is altered, although the instrument itself does not state duty rates (instrument header; TABLE B, Column 2).
• Customs administration and enforcement officers, because the customs entry and item numbers to be applied to these goods change; systems and processes that match goods to Schedule 4 items will need to recognise TCO 1132500 from the stated effective date (instrument header; TABLE B).
• Manufacturers that import components or finished aluminium tableware, in so far as their imports were previously declared under TC 0708942 and will now be declared under TC 1132500 (TABLE A and TABLE B).

The instrument is not written as applying to exporters, domestic sales, or manufacturing per se; its scope is the customs tariff treatment of the enumerated goods as imports, via the TCO mechanism tied to Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (instrument header). No individuals, businesses, or agencies are named as exempt or specially treated; the instrument’s reach is defined by the product descriptions and by the legal effect of mapping those descriptions to a Schedule 4 entry from 01.01.12.

The instrument itself confers no affirmative rights or obligations in the form of monetary duties, licences, or regulatory conditions. Its operative effect is administrative: it sets which Part III Schedule 4 item number applies to the listed goods from the stated effective date. The practical duties and rights flowing from the instrument therefore arise from that mapping.

Key administrative duties and consequences implicit in the instrument are:

• Duty to use the new TCO mapping from the effective date. The instrument revokes the prior TCO and makes a replacement TCO "in its place" and expressly provides that the replacement "shall have effect from the date notified in paragraph (a) above as the date of effect for the Revocation" (instrument header). That establishes an administrative obligation to apply the replacement TCO for goods described in TABLE B from 01.01.12 for customs purposes.
• Duty to classify using the updated tariff classification number where relevant. The TABLE entries present the goods under a specified customs classification number (Table A 7615.19.00; Table B 7615.10.00). The instrument therefore directs that customs entries be made using the classification and TCO that correspond to the replacement entry after the effective date.
• Right to rely on the Schedule 4 item mapping. The instrument makes an administrative determination that the goods in Column 1 of TABLE B are goods to which the Part III Schedule 4 item in Column 2 applies. Importers and their agents can rely on the TCO mapping as the delegate’s administrative determination for the purposes of making declarations, subject to whatever review/appeal mechanisms the primary legislation provides (the instrument itself does not state those mechanisms).
• No express creation of tariff rates or exemption conditions. The instrument does not itself set ad valorem rates, specific duties, or concessional percentages. Instead it indicates which Schedule 4 item number is to be applied. The applicable legal rights to a concession or tariff treatment derive from the Part III Schedule 4 entry to which the instrument maps the goods; that underlying statutory text is not reproduced in this instrument.

The instrument does not set procedural or documentary requirements beyond effecting the TCO substitution. It therefore neither prescribes new record-keeping rules nor removes existing ones; such obligations would be imposed by the primary Customs Act or the Customs Tariff Act and are not rewritten in the instrument. In short, the instrument’s "duty" is administrative: once it takes effect, the replacement TCO governs which Schedule 4 item is to be referenced in customs matters concerning the listed aluminium tableware.

The text of this instrument contains no penalty provisions, fines, or enforcement mechanisms. Its operation is purely administrative: it revokes an earlier Tariff Concession Order and replaces it with another, links the described goods to a Part III Schedule 4 item number, and sets an effective date. Enforcement and penalties for incorrect declaration, misclassification, or non‑compliance are not specified in the instrument itself.

The instrument does, however, state the statutory head of power under which it is made: "Under Section 269SD(2) of the Customs Act 1901, I Robert Crawford a delegate of the Chief Executive Officer (a) revoke [the earlier TCO] ...; and (b) make in its place the Tariff Concession Orders described in TABLE B" (instrument header). That identifies the Customs Act 1901 as the enabling statute. Any enforcement mechanisms, penalty regimes or appeal processes that might arise from applying the new TCO therefore derive from the Customs Act 1901 and from the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (specifically Part III Schedule 4 as referenced), not from this instrument. The instrument does not elaborate those regimes.

Practical enforcement consequences that follow from the instrument’s operation are:

• After the effective date, customs officials and importers will be expected to account for imports of the enumerated items under the new TCO mapping. Non‑use or incorrect use of the new mapping could lead to customs inquiry or adjustment, but the instrument does not specify the nature of those adjustments or sanctions.
• The instrument’s change of Schedule 4 item number (from "5031.12.11" in TABLE A to "50" in TABLE B) may affect the administrative basis on which concessions or rates are applied. The instrument itself contains no penalty text; it merely makes the mapping that might trigger different outcomes under the statutory enforcement provisions of the primary legislation.

Where penalty implications arise in practice (for example, through misdeclared tariff classification or incorrect use of a Schedule 4 item), the legal consequences will flow from the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995 as those Acts provide; the instrument is the administrative act that determines which Schedule 4 item is to be used for the specified goods from 01.01.12.

The instrument explicitly links to two pieces of primary legislation and operates as an administrative action within that statutory framework.

• Customs Act 1901: The instrument is made under "Section 269SD(2) of the Customs Act 1901" (instrument header). That citation identifies the enabling power used by the delegate to revoke and substitute Tariff Concession Orders. The instrument therefore functions as a statutory instrument operating under the authority of the Customs Act. Any procedural or legal limits on the delegate’s power, appeal rights, or enforcement consequences will be defined by the Customs Act, not by this instrument. The instrument does not summarise or restate those limits.

• Customs Tariff Act 1995 (Part III, Schedule 4): The instrument links the described goods to an item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995. The instrument states that "The goods specified in Column 1 of TABLE B are goods to which the item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 specified in Column 2 of TABLE B applies" (instrument header). In practical terms, the instrument operates as an administrative bridge between specific goods descriptions and the statutory tariff treatment contained in Schedule 4. The instrument does not reproduce or restate the content of the identified Schedule 4 item; it only identifies which item number applies.

The instrument does not reference or modify other statutes, regulations, or international agreements. It does not amend the text of the Customs Tariff Act or the Customs Act; it exercises an administrative power to revoke and make TCOs within the statutory scheme. Any interaction with other areas of law (for example, competition law, consumer protection, product standards, or import licensing rules) is not addressed or altered by the instrument; such interactions, if relevant to importers of the listed goods, remain governed by the separate statutes and regulations.

In sum, the instrument operates as a limited administrative act within the statutory framework provided by the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995: it sets the mapping from a descriptive TCO entry to a Schedule 4 item number, and indicates the date from which that mapping is to be applied.

The instrument itself documents a very narrow amendment history: it revokes one specific prior Tariff Concession Order and substitutes a new one. The record in the instrument shows the following timeline and identifiers:

• Original TCO: Tariff Concession Order Number 0708942, opened 13 June 2007 (noted as "Op. 13.06.07 - TC 0708942") and recorded in TABLE A as applying to the nominated aluminium tableware under tariff classification 7615.19.00 with Schedule 4 item 5031.12.11 (TABLE A, Column 1 and Column 2).

• Revocation: The instrument, signed by the delegate on 30 November 2011, "revoke[s] Tariff Concession Order Number 0708942 made on 12.10.07" and states that "This Revocation has effect from 01.01.12" (instrument header). The instrument expressly sets the revocation effective date.

• Replacement TCO: The instrument "make[s] in its place the Tariff Concession Orders described in TABLE B" and records the new entry as "Op. 01.01.12 - TC 1132500" which lists the same goods under tariff classification 7615.10.00 and assigns Schedule 4 item number "50" to those goods (TABLE B).

• Execution date: The instrument is dated 30 November 2011 and signed by Robert Crawford, Delegate of the Chief Executive Officer (closing lines). The instrument states that the new TCO "shall have effect from the date notified in paragraph (a) above as the date of effect for the Revocation" (instrument header), tying the effective date of the replacement to 01.01.12.

No other amendments, subsequent revocations, or historical steps beyond those recorded in the instrument are included in the text provided. The instrument is presented across three pages (notations "This is page 1 of 3 Pages" and "This is page 3 of 3 Pages"), but no further amendment history appears within the provided pages.

Practically, the amendment history the instrument records is a straight substitution: TC 0708942 (Op. 13.06.07) was revoked effective 01.01.12 and replaced by TC 1132500 (Op. 01.01.12). The instrument does not document any intermediate amendments to TC 0708942 between 2007 and 2011, nor does it record any future amendments.

The instrument contains no reference to litigation, disputes, judicial review, or appeals. There is no indication within the instrument’s text of any court or tribunal proceedings that have arisen from either the original TCO (TC 0708942) or from the replacement TCO (TC 1132500). The instrument simply records the administrative action taken by the delegate on 30 November 2011.

Because the instrument does not include or allude to any legal challenge history, there is no litigation history to summarise from the text provided. The instrument does not set out rights of review, appeal routes, or past disputes; those matters would be addressed in the primary legislation (for example the Customs Act 1901 or relevant administrative review processes) but are not recited here.

If a reader requires whether any litigation has been brought historically in relation to the original or replacement TCO, that information is not contained in the instrument. The instrument documents only the revocation and replacement action, the goods descriptions, classification headings, Schedule 4 item numbers, the operative dates, and the delegate’s signature; it contains no record of judicial or tribunal proceedings.

The instrument is compact, but it contains several technical features and potential operational pitfalls that practitioners and affected parties should note, based solely on the text.

1. Change of tariff classification code despite identical descriptive wording. The goods listed in TABLE A and TABLE B are described by identical language (the long list of tableware items). However the customs classification number changes from 7615.19.00 in TABLE A to 7615.10.00 in TABLE B. That difference is a precise administrative change: import declarations and internal systems must use the classification number that corresponds to the replacement TCO from the effective date. A mismatch between the TCO and the tariff classification could lead to processing errors or queries.

2. Schedule 4 item designation changes format and value. TABLE A records the Schedule 4 item number as "5031.12.11" with a "Last date of effect" label; TABLE B records "50" under Schedule 4 Item Number and presents no last date of effect (the last date field is blank or dashed). Systems, manuals and customs databases that parse Schedule 4 references must be capable of handling this change in notation and ensure the correct statutory item is applied. The instrument itself does not explain whether "50" is indefinite or time-limited; it merely records the item number.

3. Effective date alignment. The instrument revokes the prior TCO "with effect from 01.01.12" and records the new TCO as "Op. 01.01.12 - TC 1132500". The instrument also states that the replacement shall have effect from the date notified in paragraph (a) above (i.e. the revocation effective date). Practically, import declarations lodged on 1 January 2012 and thereafter must use the new TCO mapping. Parties with stock in transit around the effective date should confirm how their particular import transactions are to be treated administratively; the instrument itself does not address transitional treatment or grandfathering.

4. No duty rate or concession text included. The instrument does not state the substantive tariff concession (for example, a percentage rate or waiver). It only designates which Schedule 4 item applies. That means practitioners must cross-reference the relevant item in Part III of Schedule 4 of the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to determine the substantive duty treatment. The instrument does not itself answer the question "what duty, if any, applies" , it only tells you which statutory entry to consult.

5. Administrative provenance and signature. The instrument is signed by a delegate ("Robert Crawford, Delegate of the Chief Executive Officer") and dated 30 November 2011. Where an administrative decision is challenged, precise attention to the instrument’s execution and the statutory power cited (s 269SD(2) of the Customs Act 1901) can be material. The instrument itself records the enabling section but does not expand on the scope or limits of the delegate’s authority.

6. Data and record-keeping implications. Customs systems, ERP software, and accounting records that previously referenced TC 0708942 or a particular Schedule 4 code must be updated to TC 1132500 and the new Schedule 4 item number effective 01.01.12. Failure to synchronise reference data can cause misfilings.

7. Ambiguity about "Last date of effect" fields. TABLE A presents a "Last date of effect" alongside the Schedule 4 item for the revoked TCO; TABLE B does not populate that field. The instrument does not explain the significance of the blank field in Table B. Practitioners should not assume a particular expiry profile from the absence of a last date in TABLE B; the instrument simply does not state one.

These are practical, administratively material observations drawn from the instrument’s text. The instrument does not provide procedural clarifications, transitional provisions, or duty numbers; those matters must be resolved by reference to the enabling statutes and to the Schedule 4 item identified.

Compliance under this instrument focuses on using the replacement TCO mapping and the correct tariff classification and Schedule 4 item for the described goods from the stated effective date. The instrument’s own text provides the key compliance pointers:

1. Apply the replacement TCO from 01.01.12. The instrument revokes TCO No. 0708942 and states that the revocation "has effect from 01.01.12" and that the replacement TCO "shall have effect from the date notified in paragraph (a) above as the date of effect for the Revocation" (instrument header). Practically, all customs declarations, tariff references, and internal records should reference TC 1132500 for the listed aluminium tableware on or after 01 January 2012.

2. Use the tariff classification in TABLE B where required. TABLE B lists the goods under the customs classification 7615.10.00 in the "Description of Goods including the Customs Tariff Classification" column (TABLE B, Column 1). Ensure import documentation that requires a tariff classification records 7615.10.00 when declaring these goods under the new TCO.

3. Reference Part III Schedule 4 item "50". The instrument states that the goods in Column 1 of TABLE B "are goods to which the item in Part III of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 specified in Column 2 of TABLE B applies" (instrument header). TABLE B Column 2 lists the number "50". For tariff treatment, ensure that the relevant customs entry and supporting documentation cite Schedule 4 item 50 as the governing statutory provision for the imported goods.

4. Ensure systems and personnel are updated by the effective date. Because the instrument is dated 30 November 2011 and the effective date is 01.01.12, update customs declarations, tariff reference tables, ERP taxonomy, and broker instructions ahead of 1 January 2012 so declarations lodged on or after that date reference TC 1132500, tariff code 7615.10.00, and Schedule 4 item 50.

5. Verify descriptions match the instrument’s itemisation. The instrument’s goods description is extensive and specific; compliance requires that the goods declared correspond to the listed items (for example, "tea pots", "trays", "wine cooling buckets", etc.). When preparing declarations, ensure the described imported items align with the language used in TABLE B Column 1 to substantiate the use of the TCO mapping.

6. Where there is uncertainty about a particular article’s fit within the list, seek clarification or internal confirmation. The instrument does not provide interpretative guidance. If an imported article is not clearly described in TABLE B, or straddles an entry boundary, practitioners should check the wording of TABLE B and, as necessary, consult the underlying Part III Schedule 4 item or the customs authority for confirmation. The instrument itself does not establish an internal dispute or appeal route.

7. Record the administrative identifiers for audit trail. For each importation covered, noting the TCO identifier (TC 1132500), the opening date (Op. 01.01.12), the tariff classification (7615.10.00) and the Schedule 4 item number (50) in internal records will create a clear audit trail that mirrors the instrument’s administrative mapping.

The instrument does not specify transitional arrangements, exemptions or documentary formats. It also does not prescribe remedial steps where an earlier declaration used the revoked TCO; those matters will be managed under the applicable provisions of the Customs Act 1901 and supporting customs procedures, not by this instrument. From the instrument’s text alone, the practical compliance task is to ensure that, from 01 January 2012, the listed aluminium tableware is declared using TC 1132500, tariff heading 7615.10.00, with reference to Schedule 4 Part III item 50.