TARIFF BOARD.

No. 5 of 1929.

An Act to amend the Tariff Board Act 1921-1924.

[Assented to 18th March, 1929.]

BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—

Short title and citation.

1.—(1.) This Act may be cited as the Tariff Board Act 1929.

(2.) The Tariff Board Act 1921–1924 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Tariff Board Act 1921–1929.

The Chairman of the Board.

2. Section seven of the Principal Act is amended by omitting sub-section (1.) and inserting in its stead the following sub-section:—

“(1.) The Governor-General shall appoint a member of the Board as Chairman, and may appoint as Chairman a member who holds an administrative office in the Department of Trade and Customs.”.

3. Section eight of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section inserted in its stead:—

Remuneration of member of Board.

“8.—(1.) The Chairman shall receive a salary of sixteen hundred pounds a year, inclusive of such salary (if any) as is payable to him as an officer of the Public Service.

“(2.) Each of the other members shall receive an allowance of six guineas per sitting, with a maximum in any one year of fifteen hundred pounds:

Provided that if, in any year, the amount received by way of salary by a member, who is an officer of the Commonwealth Public Service, is less than the amount which would be payable to him at the rate of six guineas per sitting, with a maximum of fifteen hundred pounds a year, the amount of the difference shall be paid to him as an allowance.

“(3.) There shall be paid to each member, on account of his expenses in travelling to discharge the duties of his office, such sums as are considered reasonable by the Governor-General.

“(4.) The Minister may grant to each member of the Board, not being an officer of the Commonwealth Public Service, fifteen days’ leave of absence in each year, and, for each day of absence on leave, each such member shall, if remunerated by way of sitting fees be entitled to receive allowance as if he had attended a sitting of the Board on that clay.

“(5.) In this section ‘year’ means a period of twelve months commencing from the date of appointment of the member concerned, or from any anniversary of that date.”.

Sittings of the Board.

4. Section eleven of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by omitting sub-section (3.) and inserting in its stead the following sub-section:—

“(3.) The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Board at which he is present and in his temporary absence a member who has been nominated for the purpose by the Chairman shall preside.”;

(b) by omitting from paragraph (c) of sub-section (4.) the words “complaints made” and inserting in their stead the word “question”; and

(c) by omitting from sub-section (7.) the words “clause three, sub-clauses five and six of this Act” and inserting in their stead the words “the last two preceding sub-sections”.

5. After section twelve of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—

Appointment of committee.

“12a.—(1.) The Board may appoint two of its members as a committee for the purpose of conducting any inquiry or other business of the Board, and in the conduct of any such inquiry or business the committee shall have all the powers of the Board.

“(2.) The Chairman of the Board shall nominate one of the members of a committee appointed under this section to be the chairman of the committee.

“(3.) Meetings of the committee shall be convened by the chairman of the committee who shall, in relation to the committee, have the same powers as the Chairman of the Board has in relation to the Board:

Provided that the chairman shall not exercise the casting vote except in relation to the conduct of the proceedings of the committee.

“(4.) Any committee so appointed shall furnish to the Board a report of any inquiry or other business conducted or performed by the committee.

“(5.) The members of a committee shall receive such fees in respect of its sittings as they would have received if the sittings were sittings of the Board.”.

Reference of certain matters to the Board.

6. Section fifteen of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by omitting paragraphs (a) and (b) of sub-section (1.);

(b) by omitting from paragraph (h) of sub-section (1.) the words “complaint that” and inserting in their stead the words “question whether”;

(d) by inserting in sub-section (2.), after paragraph (d), the following paragraphs:—

“(e) the classification of goods under all Tariff Items which provide for classification under by-laws; and

“(f) the determination of the value of goods for duty under section one hundred and sixty of the Customs Act. 1901–1925.”;

(e) by omitting from sub-section (3.) the words “that any complaint referred to it under paragraph (h) of sub-section (1.) of this section is justified” and inserting in their stead the words “, in respect of any question referred to it under paragraph (h) of sub-section (1.) of this section, that a manufacturer is taking undue advantage of the protection afforded him by the Tariff”; and

(f) by omitting from paragraph (a) of sub-section (3.) the words “the amount of duty payable on the goods the subject of the complaint” and inserting in their stead the words “the protection afforded to the manufacturer in respect of the goods”.

7. After section fifteen of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—

Board to confer with Director of Economic Research.

“15a. After the appointment of a person to be Director of Economic Research, the Board may confer with the Director upon any particular matter referred to the Board for inquiry and report.”.

Annual report.

8. Section eighteen of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from sub-section (1.) the words “in the month of July” and inserting in their stead the words “within sixty days after the first day of July”.