Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals) 2023

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals) 2023

## What it does
This law changes what Australia charges when goods are imported from certain countries. It increases tariffs (import taxes) on Russian and Belarusian goods, decreases tariffs on Ukrainian goods, reduces duties on medical and hygiene products, and lowers tariffs on electric vehicles.

## Why it matters
These tariff changes affect what you pay for imported goods. Lower tariffs on EVs and medical products should make those items cheaper; higher tariffs on Russian and Belarusian goods reflect Australia's response to the invasion of Ukraine. Most changes happened months before this bill passed—it's formally locking them into law.

## Key details
- **Russia & Belarus**: A 35% additional tax is added to their imports (started April 2022)
- **Ukraine**: Import duties were cut to support their economy (started July 2022)
- **Timing**: Most of these tariff changes were already in effect since mid-2021 through 2022; this bill backdates them legally to those earlier dates so they're properly documented in Australian law
- **Electric vehicles & medical products**: Duty reductions apply from July 2022 onwards

Official Description

Amends the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to: provide for an increase in customs duties for goods that are the produce or manufacture of Russia or Belarus imported into Australian between 25 April 2022 and 24 October 2023; provide for a free rate of customs duty for certain goods that are the produce or manufacture of Ukraine imported between 4 July 2022 and 3 July 2023; permanently extend the free rate of customs duty for certain prescribed medical products and hygiene products; provide for a free rate of customs duty for certain electric and low emission vehicles with a customs value less than the luxury car tax threshold imported into Australia on or after 1 July 2022; and correct tariff references for blood-grouping reagents and herbicides, anti-sprouting products and plant-growth regulators following their reclassification.

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

22 Mar 2023

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

28 June 2023

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

🗳️

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

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