Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2004A04935:body:0:p33
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2004A04935
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 79348–81959

or

    (b) if the goods are delivered to the officer at an approved place—leave the goods at that place.".

31. Section 205:

Repeal the section, substitute:

Requirement to serve seizure notices

"205.(1) After goods have been seized under a seizure warrant or under subsection 203B(2) or 203C(2), the responsible person must serve, within 7 days after the seizure, a seizure notice on the owner of the goods or, if the owner cannot be identified after reasonable inquiry, on the person in whose possession or under whose control the goods were when they were seized.

"(2) Subsection (1) applies whether or not a claim for the return of the goods seized has been made under section 205B.

"(3) The notice must be in writing and must be served:

    (a) personally or by post, or

    (b) if no person of the kind referred to in subsection (1) can be identified after reasonable inquiry—by publishing a copy of the notice in a newspaper circulating in the location in which the goods were seized.

SCHEDULE 4—continued

"(4) A seizure notice may be served on a person who is outside Australia.

"(5) In this section:

'responsible person' means:

    (a) in relation to goods other than narcotic-related goods—the officer of Customs who seized the goods or to whom the goods were delivered under subsection 204(3); or

    (b) in relation to narcotic-related goods—the member of the Australian Federal Police who seized the goods or to whom the goods were delivered under subsection 204(4).

Matters to be dealt with in seizure notices

"205A. A seizure notice must set out the following:

    (a) a statement identifying the goods;

    (b) the day on which they were seized;

    (c) the ground, or each of the grounds, on which they were seized;

    (d) a statement that, if a claim for the return of the goods has not already been made, and is not made within 30 days after the day the notice is served, the goods will be taken to be condemned as forfeited to the Crown;

    (e) if the notice is to be served in a foreign country—a statement that the person served, if that person has not yet made such a claim, may not make such a claim unless he or she has first appointed in writing an agent in Australia with authority to accept service of documents, including process in any proceedings arising out of the matter.

Claim for return of goods seized

"205B.(1) If goods are seized under a seizure warrant or under subsection 203B(2) or 203C(2), the owner of the goods may, whether or not a seizure notice has yet been served on the owner, make a claim to the appropriate person for the return of the