The Australian Government is committed to ensuring the Australian community has access to essential goods needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Australia has therefore implemented a temporary 'free' rate of customs duty for eligible medical and hygiene equipment, to support increased supplies of these products.
The Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Jason Wood has today tabled an amendment to the Customs Tariff Act 1995.
"This important measure allows importers to claim a 'free' rate of customs duty for eligible imported goods without the compliance costs they may incur in claiming preferential tariff treatment", Mr Wood said.
Eligible goods are defined for this purpose as medical products or hygiene products which are capable of use in combating COVID-19.
Specific goods covered by the measure include:
- face masks
- gloves
- clothes or gowns
- goggles, glasses, eye visors or face shields
- disinfectant preparations classified to heading 3808 in Schedule 3 to the Customs Tariff, excluding hand sanitisers
- soaps
- COVID-19 test kits, reagents and viral transport media
The amendment applies retrospectively for all eligible goods imported between 1 February 2020 and 31 July 2020 regardless of their origin.
"This measure will help ensure Australia remains a competitive market for essential medical and hygiene goods, and allow the Australian community to continue to source these goods for those who need it most such as healthcare professionals and essential workers".
"The Customs Tariff Proposal is a targeted and proportionate measure, implemented to ensure we can continue to prevent the spread of COVID-19 throughout the lifting of our current restrictions".
