Williamson Maurice: Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill — First Reading 
Williamson Maurice: Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7113] 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister of Customs) 
: 
 I move  
That the Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I will move that the Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill be referred to the Government Administration Committee that the committee report finally to the House on or before 16 November 2009 and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time that the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening on a day in which there has been a sitting of the House and on the Friday in a week where there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 187 and 190(1)(b) and (c). 
The bill is an omnibus bill and it amends the Customs and Excise Act 1996 and the Tariff Act 1988. It makes consequential amendments to the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 the Finance Act (No 2) 1993 and the Finance Act (No 2) 1995. The amendments contained in the bill make improvements in the processing and administration of goods and people required under those interrelated acts. The majority of amendments relate to border processing and administration by facilitating New Zealand’s international commitments or the use of new technology while other amendments improve border processing or administration generally. The bill contains three sets of amendments to improve the effectiveness of the Customs and Excise Act and to meet Government policy goals. These are amendments related to the automated passenger processing system which is now known as SmartGate six amendments to clarify and enhance the Act and eight other amendments to address legislative gaps and uncertainties. 
In today’s international travelling environment we are faced with threats to our personal security. Those of us who travel internationally are well aware of the various security measures that we must now comply with whether it is to protect New Zealand’s biosecurity aviation security or immigration laws or whether it is to protect the New Zealand community from for example firearms and offensive weapons and controlled drugs. Those obligations on the travelling public have resulted in longer waiting and processing times at airports. To counter that this Government has announced that low-risk Australian and New Zealand passport holders will enjoy a faster more streamlined exit through border processing at Auckland Wellington and Christchurch airports. As part of that automated processing through the SmartGate system will become an option for travellers who hold either an Australian or a New Zealand e-passport—that is an electronic passport; the old technology ones will not work. 
In reviewing the Customs and Excise Act to take account of SmartGate customs officials have identified potential amendments relating to passenger interaction with the clearance process. These amendments are relatively minor. The focus of the amendments is to ensure that automated systems can be used in place of customs officers. The effect of these amendments is to allow the use of automated processing systems at the border which is something that will benefit the travelling public and contribute to the Government’s objectives to improve the border crossing experience for trans-Tasman travellers. SmartGate will enhance the role of customs officers at the border as front-line customs officers will be able to be redeployed to the secondary line where intervention with high-risk passengers occurs. I emphasise that SmartGate cannot and will not be a substitute for the observation skills and the vigilance employed by trained customs officers working at the border. 
Six amendments are included in the bill to clarify and enhance the Act especially in relation to strengthening customs law enforcement capability. The amendments are firstly to enable customs officers to search a vehicle whether it is being operated or is unattended and to give them the ability to use reasonable force to gain entry to effect the search of the vehicle; secondly to create a power to arrest any person committing an offence punishable by imprisonment under the Act whether or not that person is on a craft; thirdly to provide that duty on goods manufactured other than in the manufacturing area becomes due immediately upon the manufacture of the goods; fourthly to create a new offence of making a false allegation or report to the Customs Service that an offence has been committed knowing that the statements are not true or making statements with the intention of wasting or diverting personnel or resources; fifthly to enable customs officers to utilise future technology in those provisions that relate to the detection of tampering or interference with goods containers or packages; and sixthly to provide the Customs Service with the ability to require payment of debts within the 20-day time period where it receives advance warning that the company has a dubious financial situation and that payments by the due date will be unlikely. 
The bill also includes eight minor amendments to the Act aimed at addressing legislative gaps and uncertainties including amendments to clarify the provisions in the Act relating to authorised persons to allow for the revocation of a customs export delivery order in certain circumstances to allow material usually set out in the schedules of the customs and excise regulations to be incorporated by reference to relocate the alcohol personal use exemptions from the Customs and Excise Regulations 1996 to the Act to allow the chief executive to nominate non - customs officer employees to lay information to allow for the suspension of a registered users’ registration to clarify that the chief executive can grant further time for lodgement of an entry of goods for exporting in appropriate cases and to allow for the imposition of administrative penalties for entries containing an error or omission. As I said there are eight amendments but they are all reasonably minor and they tidy up some things in the Act that needed some clarification. 
The bill contains amendments to the Tariff Act 1988 primarily to allow for faster and more efficient implementation of tariff reductions arising from our trade agreements by firstly allowing material usually set out in tariff amendment orders to be incorporated by reference and secondly by making the working tariff document maintained by the New Zealand Customs Service the legal tariff. 
Following amendments to the Tariff Act schedule 3 of the Customs and Excise Act is replaced by an excise and excise-equivalent duties table available on the Internet and in hard copy. The bill also enacts a previous decision of Cabinet to raise fuel excise duty by 3c a litre effective on 1 October 2010. I commend the Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill to the House.