Australian Customs Service
ACS · Customs
1 July 1985 – 22 May 2009
Renamed Australian Customs and Border Protection Service in 2009.
Commonwealth agency that administered customs and border controls, collecting customs duties and (until 1999) excise, processing cargo and international passengers, enforcing import and export prohibitions and, through Coastwatch, conducting civil maritime surveillance.
Names over time
- Australian Customs Service1985–2009
- Australian Customs and Border Protection Service2009–2015
How it came into existence
Formed on 1 July 1985 as a separate agency headed by the Comptroller-General of Customs (first Tom Hayes) under the Customs Administration Act 1985, taking customs and excise administration from the Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce. Customs had been administered by a line of departments since the Department of Trade and Customs of 1901.
- Customs and excise administration
- Border control of goods and travellers
Legislation: Customs Administration Act 1985
Changes during its life
- 1988Took over civil coastal surveillance, operated as Coastwatch, following the Hudson review of coastal surveillance.
- 21 October 1998Came under the new Minister for Justice and Customs in the Attorney-General's portfolio.
- 1999Administration of excise on domestically produced goods transferred to the Australian Taxation Office.
- Anti-dumping and countervailing duty inquiries and recommendations
The Customs Legislation (Anti-dumping Amendments) Act 1998 repealed the Anti-Dumping Authority Act 1988 with effect from 22 December 1998.
- Final inquiries and recommendations on dumping and countervailing duties
- Excise on domestically produced goods
Customs kept excise-equivalent duties on imported goods.
How it ended
Renamed the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service on 22 May 2009 under the Customs Legislation Amendment (Name Change) Act 2009, with an expanded border protection role.
- Customs and border control
- Cargo and passenger processing
- Civil maritime surveillance
Main functions
- Collection of customs duties
- Excise administration (until 1999)
- Cargo and passenger processing at the border
- Enforcement of import and export prohibitions
- Anti-dumping and countervailing investigations
- Civil maritime surveillance (Coastwatch)
Where it sits
Last in the portfolio of Attorney-General's Department.
Lineage
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