G/ADP/N/1/AUS/2/Suppl.14
G/SCM/N/1/AUS/2/Suppl.12
20 April 2015
(15-2088)  Page: 1/2
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices 
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  Original: English
 
 NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
UNDER ARTICLES 18.5 AND 32.6 OF THE AGREEMENTS 
AUSTRALIA  
Supplement 
The following communication, dated 17 April 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Australia. 
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Pursuant to Article 18.5 of the WTO Anti-Dum ping Agreement and Article 32.6 of the WTO 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, please find attached section 48 of Division 3 
of the Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 . This provision was formerly in 
Customs Amendment (Anti-Dumping Improvements) Regulation 2015 (Regulation) . The Regulation  
received Royal Assent on 26 February 2015. This Regulation commenced on 1 April 2015 but 
sunsetted on 2 April 2015 and reintroduced in the Customs (International Obligations) 
Regulation 2015 . 
 The Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 reinstates relevant components of the 
Customs Regulations 1926  (1926 Regulation). Legislative instruments made before 1930 that were 
registered on the Federal Register of Legislativ e Instruments on 1 January 2005, such as the 1926 
Regulation, sunsetted on 1 April 2015. The Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 
reinstates certain provisions within the 1926 Regulati on that give effect to Australia's international 
obligations. The relevant provisions of the 1926 Regulation relating to anti-dumping and countervailing duties were contained in Australia's previous notifications.
1 
 
Section 48 of Division 3 of the Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 expands 
Australia's existing anti-circumvention framework which commenced in June 2013 and was further expanded in January 2014. It adds a new circumve ntion activity in order to address emerging 
behaviours by foreign exporters that slightly modify their goods in order to circumvent existing 
anti-dumping duties. The circumvention activity 'slight modification of goods exported to Australia' may take place where goods exported to Australia, which would have been subject to a 
dumping/countervailing duty notice, are slightly mo dified in order to avoid anti-dumping duties. 
The slightly modified goods are also likely to be imported under different classification subheadings 
and do not necessarily fall within the description of the goods to which a dumping and/or 
countervailing duty applies. 
 
                                               
1 G/ADP/N/1/AUS/1-G/SCM/N/1/AUS/1 an d G/ADP/N/1/AUS/2-G/SCM/N/1/AUS/2. G/ADP/N/1/AUS/2/Suppl.14 • G/SCM/N/1/AUS/2/Suppl.12 
 
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  Customs (International Obligations) Regulation 2015 
Division 3—Circumvention activities 48 Circumvention activities 
(1) For subsection 269ZDBB(6) of the Act, the circumstance set out in subsection (2) of this 
section is prescribed. 
Slight modification of goods exported to Australia 
(2) The circumstance is that all of the following apply: 
(a) goods (the circumvention goods ) are exported to Australia from a foreign country in respect 
of which the notice applies; 
(b) before that export, the circumvention goods are slightly modified; 
(c) the use or purpose of the circumvention goods is the same before, and after, they are so 
slightly modified; 
(d) had the circumvention goods not been so slight ly modified, they would have been the subject 
of the notice; 
(e) section 8 or 10 of the Customs Tariff (Anti-Dumping) Act 1975 , as the case requires, does not 
apply to the export of the circumvention goods to Australia. 
(3) For the purpose of determining whether a ci rcumvention good is slightly modified, the 
Commissioner must compare the circumvention good and the good the subject of the notice, 
having regard to any factor that the Commissioner considers relevant, including any of the following factors: 
(a) each good's general physical characteristics; 
(b) each good's end use; (c) the interchangeability of each good; 
(d) differences in the processes used to produce each good; 
(e) differences in the cost to produce each good; (f) the cost of modification; 
(g) customer preferences and expectations relating to each good; 
(h) the way in which each good is marketed; (i) channels of trade and distribution for each good; 
(j) patterns of trade for each good; 
(k) changes in the pricing of each good; (l) changes in the export volumes for each good; (m) tariff classifications and statistical codes for each good. 
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