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2002
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PLANT HEALTH
AUSTRALIA (PLANT INDUSTRIES) FUNDING BILL 2002
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by Authority of the Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Judith
Troeth)
PLANT HEALTH AUSTRALIA (PLANT INDUSTRIES) FUNDING BILL
2002
GENERAL OUTLINE
The purpose of the
Plant Health Australia (Plant Industries) Funding Bill 2002 is to enable
levies and charges to be appropriated to Plant Health Australia Limited (PHA) to
be used to fulfil PHA plant industry members’ yearly contribution
obligations. The Bill also provides a mechanism for any excess levies and
charges that are collected to be appropriated to relevant industry research and
development bodies for research and development activities.
PHA was
established in April 2000 as a Corporations Law company responsible for
coordinating national plant health matters. Its members consist of plant
industries and all State, Territory and Commonwealth governments. Each year, the
costs of PHA’s activities are shared between its members. Industry members
of PHA cover the grains, cotton, vegetable and potato, sugar, winegrape,
nursery, apple and pear, rice, banana, fresh stone fruit, nut, honey and
strawberry industries.
The proposed arrangements will facilitate plant
industry members of PHA funding their share of PHA’s costs. For those
plant industries that choose to use these arrangements, the legislation provides
for the Commonwealth to pay the amount of the plant industry member’s PHA
costs to the extent that a new levy and charge provides the Commonwealth with
sufficient funds to pay those amounts. The Commonwealth will make the payments
directly to PHA. The new PHA levy and charge will be imposed on participating
plant industry member products by regulations under Schedule 27 to the
Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 1999 and under Schedule 14 to the
Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Act 1999.
The legislative
changes proposed give effect to plant industries’ request not to increase
the overall levy and charge burden on producers. It is proposed that the
operative rate of PHA levy or charge for initial participants will be exactly
offset by a corresponding decrease in that industry’s existing R&D
levy and charge rate.
As it is difficult to set a levy rate that will
collect a precise amount of money and no more, those plant industry members
expected to use these arrangements are intending to seek the imposition of
operative levy and charge rates at a level that will comfortably collect funds
in excess of their liability to PHA. The Bill makes provision for these excess
funds to be re-directed to fund research and development activities.
If
all industry members of PHA used these arrangements, approximately $500,000
would be collected by the new levy and charge representing plant
industries’ one third share of PHA’s current running costs.
Some industry members of PHA represent more than one plant commodity;
for example, the grains industry is a member of PHA representing producers of
wheat, coarse grains, grain legumes and oilseeds. The Bill makes provision for
PHA to advise the Minister of the portion of the grain industry’s share of
PHA’s costs attributable to the wheat, coarse grains, grain legumes and
oilseeds sectors based on their share of production for a relevant year. In
order to provide certainty about the apportionment between relevant plant
products and how much levy and charge needs to be collected from each sector to
fund the plant industry member’s share of PHA’s costs, the Minister
must publish those apportionments in the Gazette.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
STATEMENT
There will be a slight reduction in Commonwealth
contributions to research and development because of the diversion of some
industry funds to PHA that would otherwise have been matched dollar for dollar
by the Commonwealth if used for research and development purposes. As the
intention of the Bill is to facilitate the disbursement of levies and charges to
PHA, there are no other financial implications for the
Commonwealth.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short
title
This clause provides for the Act to be called the Plant
Health Australia (Plant Industries) Funding Act 2002.
Clause
2: Commencement
This clause provides for Clauses 1 and 2 of the Act
to come into effect on Royal Assent and that the remaining clauses and Schedules
will take effect on the first day of a quarter on or after the day of Royal
Assent.
Clause 3: Definitions
This clause defines PHA,
PHA funding levy or charge, PHA funding levy or charge regulations, PHA plant
product, PHA year, Plant Industry Member; primary levy or charge; relevant late
payment penalty; relevant Plant Industry Member, total Commonwealth receipts and
yearly contribution for the purposes of this Act.
Clause
4: Funding to PHA if there is a primary levy or charge on a PHA plant
product
This clause specifies that, where there is an existing
industry research and development levy or charge, that is, a primary levy or
charge, the Commonwealth must pay PHA all the levies and charges that it
receives in respect of PHA levies and charges to the limit of the individual
industry’s yearly contribution as well as any late payment penalties
imposed on those industries for paying their levies late. Where excess funds are
collected, the provisions of Clause 7 apply.
If the Commonwealth does
not receive enough levies or charges to cover an individual plant
industry’s yearly contribution, then the Commonwealth must pay to PHA
whatever amounts it has received through the levy and charge arrangements in
respect of those yearly contributions.
The Clause also provides a
condition on payments made to PHA that they be used to discharge to the extent
possible, relevant plant industries’ liabilities to PHA.
Clause
5: Funding to PHA if there is no primary levy or charge on a PHA plant
product
Plant industries that only have a PHA levy or charge, and no
research and development levy or charge, will have all PHA levy and charge funds
directed to PHA. In these cases, excess funds cannot be diverted to fund
research and development activities as the plant industry has no research and
development arrangements in place funded by Commonwealth statutory levies and
charges.
The Clause also provides a condition on payments made to PHA
that they be used to discharge to the extent possible, relevant plant
industries’ liabilities to PHA.
Clause
6: Appropriation
This clause provides for PHA levies to be paid from
Consolidated Revenue.
Clause 7: Payment of any remaining balance for
research and development purposes
The clause specifies that any levy
or charge received by the Commonwealth in excess of the plant industry’s
yearly contribution must be redirected to the industry’s prescribed
research and development body, unless the relevant plant industry body does not
have existing research and development levy or charge arrangements in
place.
Clause 8: PHA to pay Commonwealth certain costs
This
clause provides for the Commonwealth to be paid for any costs associated with
the collection and administration of the levies and charges on behalf of
PHA.
Clause 9: Treatment of Refunds
This clause sets out
that, if the Commonwealth refunds levy or charges, which has been overpaid by
industry, then PHA must also pay the equivalent amount back to the
Commonwealth.
The clause then refers to associated legislation that will
apply if this situation arises.
Clause 10: What happens if 2 or more
PHA plant products have the same designated body?
Some industry
members of PHA represent more than one plant product. In such cases, the
provisions of this clause apply. This clause specifies that PHA will advise the
Minister the proportion of the individual plant industry’s yearly
contributions attributable to each of the plant products that are being levied.
The Bill makes provision for PHA to advise the Minister of the portion
of the grain industry’s share of PHA’s costs attributable to the
wheat, coarse grains, grain legumes and oilseeds sectors based on their share of
production for a relevant year
The clause also provides that the Minister
gives effect to the apportionment by publishing each plant products’
yearly contribution through a written notice in the Gazette. Publication
provides certainty about the apportionment between relevant plant products.
While the Bill grants the Minister the authority to publish the
proportion of the individual plant industry yearly contributions in relation to
each of the plant products that are being levied, the Bill makes no provision
for disallowance. This is the case because the Minister has not made the
determination of the apportionment. PHA makes the decision about the value of
the apportionment in consultation with its industry members.
Clause
11: What happens if there are 2 or more representative organisations for the
same PHA plant product?
This clause allows for any relevant
regulations made under this act to give effect to the situations or matters that
may arise under this clause with respect to the circumstance(s) of where there
are 2 or more representative organisations for the same PHA plant
product.
Clause 12: Regulations.
This clause provides for
the Governor-General to make any regulations required or permitted by the Act
where such regulations are needed to give effect to the Act.
Clause
13: Schedules
This clause sets out, by way of schedules, the
legislation that is amended by the introduction of this Act.