Mr WILLIAMS (Attorney-General) (10:04 AM) —I move:

That the bill be now read a second time.

This bill amends the Customs Tariff (Anti-Dumping) Act 1975 to clarify, in combination with the amendments to the Customs Act 1901 proposed in the Customs (Anti-dumping Amendments) Bill 1998 , provisions of these acts which relate to the manner in which interim dumping and countervailing duties are collected.

The amendments make it clear that such interim duties can be imposed pending final assessment of any dumping or countervailing duties, notwithstanding that the actual export price and normal value, or the fact that a countervailable subsidy has been received, have not yet been ascertained.

These amendments have a retrospective commencement of 1 January 1993, the date on which interim dumping and countervailing duties were introduced, to ensure that approximately $12 million collected in interim duties since 1 January 1993 is not subject to legal challenge. I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill.

Debate (on motion by Ms Macklin) adjourned.