Attorney-General's

Enhanced Project By-law Scheme — expansion

The Government will expand the Enhanced Project By-law Scheme (EPBS) to allow the duty-free importation of eligible capital goods used in the power and water sectors, with effect from 1 July 2006.

Currently the EPBS allows duty-free importation of eligible capital goods for use in projects in the mining, resource processing, agriculture, food processing, food packaging and manufacturing industries.

Expanding the EPBS to include the power and water sectors will help reduce business input costs, improve the international competitiveness of Australian industry, and provide opportunities for Australian small and medium enterprises to participate in large capital projects.

Import Processing Charge — increase

The Government will increase the Import Processing Charge (IPC) to $50.00 per declaration for goods imported by sea and $40.20 per declaration for goods imported by air, with effect from 10 May 2006.

In October 2005 the Government announced an increase in the declaration threshold from $250 to $1,000 for goods imported by sea and air. This has reduced the number of entries that are subject to the IPC. Increasing the IPC will address the resulting revenue shortfall and ensure a return to full cost-recovery for the Australian Customs Service's import processing activities from 2006-07.

This measure will also increase revenue by $2 million in 2005-06.

Further information can be found in the press release of 27 April 2006 issued by the Minister for Justice and Customs.

Tariff concessions — removing the tariff on parts used in the modification of aircraft

The Government will extend the aircraft parts tariff concession to allow duty-free importation of parts used in the modification of aircraft, with effect from 1 July 2006.

As a result, the tariff treatment of parts used in aircraft modification will be consistent with the treatment of parts used in the manufacture, repair and maintenance of aircraft. This will reduce administrative complexity, lower business input costs and increase the international competitiveness of Australia's aircraft maintenance and modification operations.