Announcement date
28 November 2024
Link to announcement
Treasury Laws Amendment (Fairer for Families and Farmers and Other Measures) Bill 2024
Problem being addressed
Businesses have indicated that complex layers of regulation and a product safety framework that is slow to respond to changing international consumer markets can contribute to unnecessary costs and confusion about their obligations when supplying goods that are regulated by mandatory Australian standards under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The most common problems that have arisen through consultation include:
- increased compliance costs for business and barriers to trade through duplicative testing and compliance measures where a product has been manufactured to the requirements of an equivalent overseas standard
- inefficient capturing of updates to voluntary Australian and overseas standards recognised under Australian law, which has prevented businesses from quickly moving to the latest manufacturing processes, therefore slowing the supply of safer and cheaper products to market.
Proposal
A Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (Consultation RIS) was released on 1 December 2021 and considered a broad range of policy options. Informed by that consultation, the Decision Regulation Impact Statement (Decision RIS) presented the following options for decision:
- Option 1 – Status quo
- Option 2(a) – Prescribing a list of overseas standards making associations
- Option 2(b) – Using a principles-based approach for declaring overseas standards
- Option 3(a) – Allowing updated standards to apply from time-to-time
- Option 3(b) – Safe harbour provision
The Decision RIS recommended a three pronged policy approach. Implement:
- a variation of Option 2:
- Amend sections 105 and 135 of the ACL to allow the Commonwealth Minster to declare standards from any Australian or overseas standards making association.
- Remove the need to prescribe and subsequently maintain, a specific list of standards making associations (Option 2a) in the regulations, including Standards Australia.
- The list of identified principles (Option 2b) would not be drafted into legislation, rather the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) would maintain administrative responsibility for the mandatory standards framework under the ACL. In providing advice to the Minister, the ACCC would consider any matters relevant to it, including whether an overseas standard provides a suitable level of safety, before making a recommendation to the Minister to declare an Australian or overseas standard as a mandatory standard.
- time-to-time update provision under Option 3(a).
- amendments to section 108 of the ACL.
Assessed RIS outcome
Compliant Decision RIS.
Regulatory burden
The Treasury estimates these measures will result in no additional regulatory burden.