Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00357:reg:26
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00357
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 26
Character Range: 22531–24761

26  Criteria for temporary reduction in quantity of stocks
 (1) For subsection 18(6) of the Act, the Secretary may grant the application only if satisfied under subsection (2) or (3) or section 27.
 (2) The Secretary may grant an application if satisfied that the reduction is necessary because of one of the following circumstances that was beyond the reasonable control of the entity:
 (a) to carry out a tank inspection required by law or to comply with relevant maintenance standards for the equipment;
 (b) a significant shipping disruption due to unforeseen circumstances;
 (c) to repair infrastructure damaged where the applicant is not responsible for, or did not contribute to, the damage;
 (d) where a supplier of imported fuel is required to comply with the requirements to be an MSO product, but supplies fuel to the entity which is not compliant.
 (3) The Secretary may grant an application if satisfied that the applicant lost a major customer for the importing or refining of the MSO product.
 (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), an applicant is taken to have lost a major customer in relation to an MSO product only if:
  (a) the entity ceased to have a contract with the customer for the importation or refinement of the MSO product; and
 (b) as a result of the contract ceasing, the amount of MSO product that the applicant will need to import or refine for the remainder of the MSO period is reduced by more than the lesser of the following:
             (i)    20% of the total amount of the MSO product that the entity expected to import or refine during the MSO period, before the major customer was lost;
 (ii) 100 megalitres.
Note: In determining whether an entity lost a major customer in relation to an MSO product, it is not relevant whether the entity continued to have a contract with that customer for the importing or refining of a different MSO product.
 (5) In this section, MSO period means the period covered by the most recent notice given to the applicant under section 10 or section 15 of the Act.
 (6) The reduction in the quantity under subsections (2) and (3) must be no more than necessary, and for no longer than is necessary, to address the circumstance covered by that subsection.