Guidance Notes for the Submission of the Final Statement of Introduction 2003-2004

 

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If your company was registered at the Tier 2 level (previously lower level), i.e. you paid $1,343 for your registration, in 2003-2004, you need to submit a final statement of introduction to NICNAS following the end of the registration year. You have to lodge this statement before 31 October 2004.

What is the final statement about?

The final statement is an 'acquittal' process. When you registered at the beginning of the registration year, you told NICNAS that you expected to introduce (import and/or manufacture) between $500,000 and $5,000,000 of relevant industrial chemicals during the registration year (1 September to 31 August). Now that the registration year is over, you need to confirm whether your total introduction did or did not in fact fall within this value range. This confirmation is provided through the final statement of introduction.

What does NICNAS do with the final statement?

NICNAS reviews all final statements received. Depending on what you tell us in the statement, we will issue an assessment with respect to your actual introductions and registration level in the past registration year. NICNAS will confirm one of the following:

• Your registration was at the appropriate level. Nothing else needs to be done.

• Your total introduction was less than the registrable threshold of $500,000. NICNAS will cancel your registration for the past year and refund $1,007 (the registration charge component) to you. The $336 administrative component of the fee is not refundable.

• Your total introduction was more than $5,000,000 (the upper threshold). In retrospect, your registration needs to be adjusted to the upper level. You will have to pay an additional charge of $6,490.

When there are discrepancies

NICNAS routinely 'audits' lower registrants against import data obtained from the Australian Customs Service. When we find discrepancies between your claim in the final statement and what we establish from the audit, especially when these result in a change of registration level, we will issue you with an assessment on the basis of our audit. You would be provided with an opportunity to review our assessment, and to give us an explanation if you disagree with it.

Completing the final statement

Bear in mind that the purpose of the final statement is to confirm your registration level. It is not intended to be a detailed accounting process. Completing the final statement is a simple process for most companies, particularly if your total introduction fell comfortably within the $500,000 to $5,000,000 range. For example, if you introduced approximately $3,000,000 of chemicals during the registration year, you would be able to tell us that you were registered at the right level without doing any special accounting work.

More careful accounting or calculation would only be required if your total introduction value was close to the two extremes of the $500,000 to $5,000,000 range. Furthermore, if your total introduction value fell below or exceeded the range, you will have to tell NICNAS what the actual total value was.

Information provided in the final statement of introduction will be held in confidence by NICNAS.

A guide to calculating the value of your introduction

For imported chemicals, the value is the annual total of all relevant industrial chemicals imported, i.e. the customs value of these chemicals in Australian dollars, plus insurance and freight costs and customs duty paid.

For manufactured chemicals, the value is the annual total cost in manufacturing the chemicals.

If you both import and manufacture relevant industrial chemicals, the approach to calculation is the same as that described above. The values of imported and manufactured chemicals are added to give the annual total of all relevant industrial chemicals introduced.

If the chemicals you import are used to manufacture other chemicals, make sure you count the value of the import once only for NICNAS registration purposes. If you have paid NICNAS registration charges for the imported chemical ingredients, you should deduct their value from the value of the manufactured chemicals. A simpler method is to use the value of the final manufactured chemicals in your calculation as this would have taken into account the value of the imported inputs.

If you buy your ingredients from local suppliers for the purpose of manufacturing other chemicals, then the value of the manufactured chemicals is the cost in producing them, including the cost of all ingredients.

Record keeping

Record keeping requirements apply to companies registered at the Tier 2 level. You have to keep for five years all records relating to your introductions in the past registration year that are necessary to determine your registration level. In case of an audit, you need to be able to produce documentary evidence of the actual value of your introductions for that registration year.

Audit and compliance

NICNAS is committed to compliance. Every effort is made to ensure that the interests of industry members who comply with NICNAS registration requirements are protected against those who do not. You may therefore be subject to audit as part of our compliance program. When that happens, you will be asked to justify the basis for calculating your value of relevant industrial chemicals introduced.

If you require assistance in completing your final statement of introduction, please contact NICNAS registration staff on
02 8577 8800