It is a condition of all depot licences that the holder of the licence must notfying the ABF of any changes and follow the outlined obligations.
Non-compliance with the conditions of a licence may lead to administrative action. This may include the issuing of an Infringement Notice, prosecution for an offence under the
Customs Act 1901, and also suspension or even cancellation of the licence. Any of these may occur if licence holders fail to meet any of the conditions of their licence. In the event that your licence is to be suspended and/or cancelled, you will be notified in writing by your regional ABF officers.
During a suspension, under section 77VA of the
Customs Act 1901 licensed depots cannot undertake the activities of a depot. However, the ABF or Department may under written permission, approve some depot activities to continue at the premises despite the suspension.
Annual fees and licence renewals
An annual AUD4,000 fee is payable for every depot licence. Fees are paid annually at the time of renewal and are based on a standard financial year (1 July to 30 June). At the time of renewal, we send an invoice for the annual licence fee to all licence holders. It is a legislative requirement to pay the renewal fee if the premises is to continue to operate as a licensed depot.
For new licences, the annual fee becomes payable within 30 days of the approval date, applied pro rata for the first year.
Failure to pay the renewal fee on time could prevent the ability of the premises to undertake the work of a licensed depot or of the licence holder to retain the licence at all.
Under section 77T of the Act, if a depot licence holder fails to pay the renewal charge before the end of the financial year, a Collector may, until the charge is paid or the end of 90 days immediately following the end of the financial year (whichever occurs first), refuse to permit goods that are subject to customs control to be received into the depot. In addition, if the fee is not paid within 90 days immediately following the end of the financial year, the licence will expire at the end of that period of 90 days.
The ABF does not accept payment by cheque, money order or cash. The preferred methods are on the details of the invoice that will be sent to you.
