This private member’s bill amends the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958 and Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 to make the commercial exportation and importation of greyhounds unlawful unless a written permission is issued by the Minister (or an authorised APS officer) and produced to the Collector. Permissions are limited to domestic pets and must not be for breeding, racing or other commercial purposes.
The measure imposes administrative obligations: permissions may carry conditions, can be revoked, are subject to Administrative Appeals Tribunal review, and exporters must retain specified records about each greyhound until the Minister approves their destruction. The bill also prevents later regulatory instruments from removing or circumventing the bans unless each House of Parliament approves the change by resolution — a parliamentary oversight lock that limits Executive flexibility.
At a Glance
What It Does
Adds two new prohibitions to the customs regulations making it unlawful to import or export greyhounds for commercial purposes unless the Minister (or an authorised APS employee) grants a written permission and the permission is produced to the Collector. Permissions can include conditions and be revoked.
Who It Affects
Commercial greyhound breeders, trainers, exporters, importers and transport intermediaries will face a statutory bar on cross‑border commercial movement; animal welfare organisations and biosecurity agencies will see new enforcement and oversight levers; the Department administering the Export Control Act will gain permitting and record-retention responsibilities.
Why It Matters
The bill elevates an animal‑welfare and industry policy choice into customs law, creating a compliance trigger at the border and a parliamentary safeguard against administrative back‑sliding. Practically, it centralises discretion in the Minister/authorised officers and creates documentation and inspection obligations that change how greyhound-related commerce moves through customs and biosecurity clearance.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill inserts targeted prohibitions into the customs instruments that govern what can cross Australia’s borders. For both export and import it establishes a simple rule: you cannot move a greyhound commercially unless you hold a written permission issued by the Minister or an authorised APS officer and you present that permission at customs when required.
The statute cross-references other laws — for example, Biosecurity Act 2015 and Export Control Act 2020 — so permission under customs does not replace other clearance or quarantine responsibilities.
Applicants must apply in writing and the Minister or authorised officer may request any information reasonably required to decide the application. The decision-maker may consider any matter they deem relevant, and must notify applicants in writing as soon as practicable of grant, refusal, or revocation.
Permissions can impose time limits, conditions, and pre- or post-movement requirements; the Minister may revoke a permission for noncompliance and must notify the holder of a revocation. Affected persons have a statutory right to seek review in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of refusals, conditional grants or revocations.For exporters the bill builds a practical compliance package: permission holders are subject to specified recordkeeping obligations that require exporters to log for each greyhound the export date, age, sex, weight, reason for export, export permit number, and the names and addresses of the source and recipient.
Those records must be kept until the Minister authorises destruction and must be produced to authorised officers on request. Definitions in the amendments explicitly include reproductive material — embryos, ova and semen — within the meaning of “greyhound,” which draws the prohibition across animals and genetic material.Finally, the bill contains an override on subsequent delegated rulemaking: any legislative instrument made after commencement that would remove or otherwise circumvent the newly inserted prohibitions does not commence until both Houses of Parliament approve it by resolution.
That creates a legislative lock that prevents unilateral executive changes to the ban without parliamentary consent.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The regulations require a written permission to be produced to the Collector as a condition for lawful importation or exportation of a greyhound.
A permission must only be granted if the Minister (or authorised person) is satisfied the animal is a domestic pet and the movement is not for breeding, racing or any commercial purpose.
Exporters must retain detailed records for each exported greyhound — including date, age, sex, weight, reason, permit number and sender/recipient names and addresses — until the Minister approves destruction of those records.
The Minister may authorise APS employees to grant permissions, may impose conditions or revoke permissions for noncompliance, and affected applicants can seek review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Any later legislative instrument that removes or circumvents the greyhound prohibitions will not come into effect until approved by resolution of each House of Parliament, creating a parliamentary approval requirement for rollbacks.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Customs prohibition and permit regime for exports of greyhounds
This provision inserts regulation 9ABA into the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958. It makes exportation of greyhounds unlawful unless the exporter holds a written permission and produces it to the Collector. The clause sets out the application mechanics, ministerial discretion, the capacity to attach conditions and to revoke permissions, and a recordkeeping schedule that applies specifically to exporters. Practically, it relocates the compliance gate to customs: exporters must integrate permit checks and records into export workflows and be prepared for on-site inspections or production requests by authorised officers.
Mirror prohibition and permitting framework for imports
This provision mirrors the export regime within the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956. It requires importers to secure a written permission limited to domestic pets and to present it to the Collector. The insert also cross-references other regimes such as the Biosecurity Act 2015, signalling that customs permission is an additional layer rather than a substitute. For border-facing agencies and freight operators this creates a synchronous documentary check during arrival processing and potential coordination with quarantine clearance.
Definitions and delegation of decision-making
Both inserted regulations define ‘greyhound’ to include reproductive material and identify the Minister as the one administering the Export Control Act 2020. Each gives the Minister express power to authorise APS employees to grant permissions, standardising delegation inside the administering Department. The reproductive-material definition expands the ban beyond live animals to genetic products, affecting technologies and services that handle semen, embryos or ova for commercial breeding.
Administrative Appeals Tribunal review and notice requirements
The text requires written notice of decisions and informs applicants of the right to seek review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal against refusals, conditional grants and revocations. It also preserves statutory notice elements (including section 28 statements) while specifying that omission of the notice requirement does not invalidate a decision. This frames permit decisions as administrative acts subject to merits review rather than purely political choices.
Parliamentary approval required for instruments that remove or circumvent the bans
Part 3 creates a control on delegated legislation: any subsequent instrument that would remove or otherwise circumvent the inserted prohibitions does not take effect until both Houses of Parliament approve it by resolution. This is an atypical constraint on the operation of delegated instruments and raises the parliamentary chamber into a gatekeeping role for any future regulatory rollback or modification that would dilute the ban.
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Who Benefits
- Animal welfare and advocacy organisations — gain a statutory tool to limit commercial greyhound trade and reproductive material movements that they argue are linked to welfare harms, enabling oversight and potential enforcement at the border.
- Border and biosecurity agencies — receive a clear customs-level prohibition and permit framework to support enforcement of animal welfare policy alongside biosecurity checks, simplifying decision points at arrival/departure.
- Communities opposed to commercial greyhound racing — receive legislative assurance that commercial export/import routes are closed unless Ministerial exceptions apply, reducing the likelihood of commercial cross‑border movement fueling industry activity.
Who Bears the Cost
- Commercial greyhound industry participants (breeders, trainers, racing operators and associated exporters/importers) — face a near-total prohibition on cross-border commercial movements and will need to stop or restructure export/import business models.
- Exporters, freight forwarders and customs brokers handling greyhounds — will incur compliance costs: preparing and producing permissions, maintaining the specified export/import records, and responding to information requests and inspections.
- The Department administering the Export Control Act and customs enforcement resources — will absorb administrative burden for processing applications, authorising APS employees, monitoring record retention and handling AAT reviews without a funding mechanism in the text.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill pits a strong animal‑welfare and political checkpoint — a customs ban with a parliamentary lock — against administrative flexibility and commercial predictability: it solves the problem of protecting welfare and preventing commercial trade quickly, but at the cost of vague ministerial discretion, potential enforcement gaps, and significant disruption to businesses that previously relied on cross‑border movement of animals and genetic material.
The bill centralises a policy choice — prohibiting commercial greyhound movements — into customs law but leaves many operational details to Ministerial discretion. The criteria for determining whether a particular animal is genuinely a “domestic pet” versus being moved for commercial ends are undefined, creating a compliance gray zone that importers/exporters will have to litigate or test administratively.
The inclusion of reproductive material broadens the scope and could unintentionally capture scientific, veterinary or conservation-related transfers unless the Minister’s discretionary powers are exercised narrowly.
Enforcement design creates tradeoffs. The measure relies on documentary control (permissions produced to the Collector) and recordkeeping rather than specifying criminal penalties or seizure regimes; that approach reduces immediate criminalisation but raises questions about border enforcement mechanics and remedies when false or fraudulent permissions are presented.
The parliamentary approval requirement for any instrument that would remove or circumvent the bans secures the policy from administrative rollback but constrains the Executive’s ability to make technical fixes or respond quickly to unforeseen harms or trade tensions. Finally, by cross-referencing other statutes (Export Control Act, Biosecurity Act) the bill imposes layered compliance obligations, increasing complexity for operators who must satisfy multiple statutory regimes to move animals lawfully.
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