G/TFA/W/11  
 
4 February  2019 
(19-0631) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Trade Facilitation  Original: English  
 
AUSTRALIA'S EXPERIENCE WITH ADVA NCE RULINGS  
COMMUNICATION FROM A USTRALIA  
 
The following communication, dated 1 February 2019 , is being circulated at the request o f the 
delegation from Australia, for Members' information.  
 
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This paper aims to describe the key features of Australia’s advance rulings system and to show how 
it meets and builds on the requirements in the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA).  
 
Types of advance r ulings  
The Australian Government, through the De partment of Home Affairs (Home Affairs) provides 
advance rulings (k nown in Australian practice as ‘ advice’) on the following matters:  
 
▪ tariff classification – determining the tariff classification of a good and, if applicable, the 
eligibility of the good u nder a Tariff Concession Order (TCO)1; 
 
▪ origin – determining whether an imported good qualifies as originating from a particular 
country  (and is therefore eligible for a preferential rate of tariff under a free trade 
agreement) ; and  
 
▪ valuation – providing  advice  on specific issues relating to the assessment of the customs 
value. This advice does not extend to calculating the customs value for a specific transaction.  
 
Each of these matters may be relevant to the calculation of duty and tax es payable on importation 
of a good. The clarity provided by the advance rulings system assists traders  in making decisions 
about future imports of goods prior to the need to commit to importation.  
 
The requirements to apply for an advance ruling, including  the information to be provided and the 
format are available online2. Home Affairs does not charge a fee to issue an advance ruling.  
 
Home Affairs aims to issue an advance ruling within 30 days  of receiving all relevant information. 
Whenever Home Affairs r equires further information from the applicant, the time taken to receive 
the information  would be additional to the 30 days.  
 
Advance rulings are valid for five years unless cancelled and are binding on both the Australian 
Government and on the applicant.   
 
                                                
1 Tariff Concession Orders (TCOs) waive import duties otherwise payable where there are no known 
Australian manufacturers of goods that are substitutable for imported goods.  
2 For applications regarding tariff classification, or eligibility under a TCO, see  the information available 
at: https://www.abf.gov.au/importing -exporting -and-manufacturing/tariff -classification/tariff -advice -system . 
For information and regarding origin and valuation see:  https://www.abf.gov.au/importing -exporting -and-
manufacturing/impo rting/how -to-import/requirements#content -index -5.   G/TFA/W/11  
 
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  Benefits of advance rulings  
Advance rulings are a proven trade facilitation tool for both traders and customs administrations 
that enhance the certainty and predictability of customs operations. Benefits include:  
 
▪ traders obtain precise and binding info rmation in advance of the actual transaction and for 
similar transactions during a specified period in future. This allows them to make commercial 
decisions with certainty e.g. knowing that a particular good will be eligible for preferential 
tariff treatme nt from an FTA partner would reduce the cost of the good;  
 
▪ clearance processes may be quicker and delays reduced because officials have already 
considered and decided on certain matters before importation;  
 
▪ disputes with customs staff on tariff, valuation and origin issues are reduced because any 
discussion needed has already taken place before the advance ruling is issued, or in a review 
process if that has taken place;  
 
▪ increased cooperation and greater trust between traders and customs authorities;  
 
▪ greater consistency in decisions relating to tariff, valuation and origin issues through 
centralised decision -making and publication of tariff classification precedents, and improved 
industry compliance with tariff laws; and  
 
▪ more accurate trade statistics.  
 
When an advance ruling may be refused  
Home Affairs may refuse to issue an advance ruling in certain circumstances, including:  
 
▪ when the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) or the Federal Court of Australia is 
considering a decision involving identical or  similar goods, or such a body has made a 
decision and it is still in the appeal period.  In such cases, the application may be held over 
until the matter is settled rather than rejected;  
 
▪ when goods which are an exact match for goods that are subject to a tariff precedent (see 
below);   
 
▪ when Home Affairs has already made a decision on the classification of the goods, for 
example, a customs official has determined that the classification of a good advised by the 
importer is incorrect and cl assified the good elsewhere;  
 
▪ for goods from multiple suppliers;   
 
▪ the classification of the goods is already being considered as part of an active TCO application 
submitted by the same applicant; and  
    
▪ failure to provide Home Affairs with all relevant  information.  
 
Amendment or cancellation of an advance ruling  
Advance rulings may be amended or cancelled in certain circumstances, including if : 
 
▪ a legislative amendment results in change s to tariff schedules;  
 
▪ full disclosure of relevant information was not made in the application;  
 
▪ information provided with the application was incorrect, false or misleading;  
 
▪ conflicting advance rulings have been issued for goods of the same class or kind ; 
 
▪ the advance ruling has been reviewed internally;  
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  ▪ a decision of either the AAT or the Federal Court modifies a decision based on the advanced 
ruling; or  
 
▪ Home Affairs changes its interpretation of the relevant legislation.   
 
Where an advanced ruling is amended or cancelled, the applicant will be advised in writing regarding  
the reasons for the amendment or cancellation.  
 
The consequences for an importer of Home Affairs amending or cancelling an advance ruling depend 
on the reason for the cancellation or amendment:  
 
▪ if the advance ruling is incorrect because informatio n provided with the application was 
incomplete, incorrect, false or misleading, the ruling is invalid. The importer is required to 
pay the correct amount of revenue on all goods imported under the advance ruling and to 
repay any refunds obtained on the bas is of the advance ruling. The importer may be subject 
to penalties or other law -enforcement action;  
 
▪ if the advance ruling is amended because of changes to legislation, the duty and taxes 
payable will depend on the law applying at the time the goods are en tered for home 
consumption ; 
 
▪ if the advance ruling is cancelled or amended because of a change in interpretation of the 
law that results in a higher rate of duty being payable, then:  
 
o goods imported within the tariff advice validity period are protected and are subject 
to the lower rate of duty;  
 
o goods  in transit to Australia on the day the tariff advice was cancelled or amended 
that are  entered for home consumption within 28  days of the day of cancellation 
would generally pay the lower rate of duty  (note that ‘in -transit’ provisions are 
applied at the discretion of Home Affairs) ; and  
 
o goods imported subsequently would pay the higher rate of duty; and  
 
▪ if the advance ruling is cancelled or amended because of a change in interpretation of the 
law that results in a lower rate duty being payable, the importer is eligible to receive a refund 
of any overpaid duty.  
 
Review processes for advanced rulings  
If an applicant considers an advance ruling to be incorrect, the applicant may seek internal review 
by the person who issued the advance ruling . 
 
If the applicant considers the advance ruling to be incorrect following this review, the applicant may 
request a formal review. The review is conducted by a Home Affairs official who is either more senior 
or from a different area.  
 
For external review, i f the applicant considers an advance ruling to be incorrect, after importing the 
good concerned and paying duty a nd taxes under protest, the applicant is entitled to challenge the 
Home Affairs decision in the AAT. This right exists whether or not the advance ruling was subject to 
internal review by Home Affairs . 
 
Following the AAT decision , either party to the AAT de cision  may appeal to the Federal Court if it 
believes the AAT decision was incorrect on a point of law.  Note that it is possible to challenge the 
payment of duties directly in the Federal Court if the applicant believes an error of law was made.  
 
Once the matter is finally decided, Home Affairs would amend or cancel the advance rul ing if 
warranted by the AAT or c ourt decision .  
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  Publication of guidance  
Australia issues public guidance  material , in the form of tariff precedents, on tariff classification 
issues for various types of goods3. Whereas an advance ruling on tariff classification is for a specific 
good from a particular exporter to a particular importer, a tariff precedent is a statement of the 
Australian Government’s current thinking on the tari ff classification of a type of good or class of 
goods.   
 
While tariff precedents are not binding in the same way as advance rulings, they are advice from 
the Australian Government. Therefore, any importer who has reasonably relied on a tariff precedent 
in good faith and whose goods match the type of goods described in the precedent in all material 
particulars would normally avoid penalties should the goods be classified elsewhere and subject to 
duty.   
 
Australia does not publish advance rulings for reason s including the need to protect commercially 
confidential information. All information provided by applicants for advance rulings is treated as 
commercial -in-confidence. While it may be possible in some cases to edit out company details and 
other commercia lly-sensitive information in an advance ruling, this would add a significant cost to 
the process. In many cases , there are only a small number of traders that import a particular good 
in large quantities, and publication of an advance ruling could provide a competitor with 
commercially -sensitive information, even if the name of the importer w ere removed.  
 
 
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3 Tariff precedents are available from: https://www.abf.gov.au/importing -exporting -and-
manufacturing/tariff -classification/tariff -public -advice -products .