Frequently asked questions - Equipment Licences (EQPL)

An equipment licence (EQPL) is required to import equipment that contains or is designed to use a hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) or equipment containing synthetic greenhouse gases (hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), perfluorocarbon (PFC), sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆), nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃)) into Australia, including refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment that contains a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant.

The most common types of HFCs and HCFCs are:

A full list of substances can be found under Schedule 1 of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 (the Act).

An EQPL is required even if the equipment, such as air conditioning or refrigeration system, is incorporated into another object, e.g. a car, boat, yacht, caravan, earth moving equipment, vending or ice-making machines, ice cream makers,  water coolers, etc.

A licence is required by all importers of equipment containing synthetic greenhouse gases, unless the equipment has had the gas removed prior to import (and the importer has documentary evidence to confirm this) or an exemption (for instance, personal use or low volume threshold) applies.

Note that equipment containing or designed to operate solely on hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) or chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is banned except in certain circumstances where a licence may be granted.

It is an offence under the Act to import equipment containing or designed to operate on an HCFC or synthetic greenhouse gas equipment without a licence or exemption.

In some circumstances, an EQPL may not be required. These circumstances are:

• Where the equipment operates on a synthetic greenhouse gas and has had the gas removed prior to import and the importer can provide evidence of this if requested; and/or
• Where an exemption from licensing requirements applies (such as a personal use exemption).

More information about exemptions.

You need to complete and submit an online application form for an EQPL and provide any required supporting documentation to the Department.

The application must be accompanied by the correct application fee, unless a fee waiver has been granted. The licence application fee is non-refundable.

• More information and supporting documentary evidence required by licence type
• Online application for an equipment licence (EQPL)

A trust is not a legal entity - a licence or exemption cannot be issued in the name of a trust. If you are submitting an application for an organisation registered as a trust, you must make the application in the name of the trustee of the trust (e.g. Joe Blogs as Trustee for the ABC Trust or XYZ Pty Ltd as the Trustee for ABC Trust) and supply the Department with a copy of the Trust Deed.

Please contact the Import Operations Team if you have any questions about applying as a trustee.

The licence application fee is $3000 and is non-refundable.

There is no provision in the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 or the associated Regulations to refund the licence application fee. Please note: this includes situations where an applicant has lodged a licence application and then no longer requires a licence.

The licence application fee may be waived for import of equipment containing 25 kilograms or less of HCFC if the equipment is for test, monitoring, laboratory and analytical, medical, veterinary, defence, industrial safety, or public safety purposes, where no practical alternative exists. Please contact the Import Licensing Team for more information.

Application fees are paid to the Department into a special account on behalf of the Commonwealth.

Application fees do not attract GST and are used solely for the purposes prescribed in section 65D of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 (the Act). These include:

• administration of the Act and the associated Regulations, including the assessment and processing of licence applications;
• furthering phase out programs for ozone depleting substances and emissions minimisation programs for ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases;
• management of the National Halon Bank; and
• research relating to ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases.

The licence application fee does not cover the product stewardship requirement.

Yes.

Exemptions may be available in some situations, including the following:

• Personal imports
• Low volume imports, only for synthetic greenhouse gases
• Medical or veterinary products

This list is not comprehensive, further information on exemptions is available at Exemptions - Do I need a licence?

In addition to the licence application fee, importers are required to pay import levies based on the type and amount of scheduled substances imported.

The import/manufacture levy is a cost recovery levy which applies to ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases. The cost for the ozone depleting substance HCFC is $3000 per ozone depleting potential tonne (equivalent to $165 per metric tonne for HCFC-22 the most common HCFC), and for synthetic greenhouse gases the cost is $165 per metric tonne​.

Note: For reporting periods after 1 January 2018, if the total of the licence import levies payable by a licensee for a reporting period is less than or equal to $330, the levy will be waived. This amount is specified in the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations 1995 (the Regulations) and may change in the future. Any changes to this threshold will be amended in the Regulations and notified on the Department’s website.

No.

GST is not payable on licence application fees or import levies.

Importers who are not exempt from levy payments must pay the levy twice a year, by the 60th day following the end of the reporting period.

Note: If the last day of the levy payment period falls on a weekend or public holiday, the levy payment is due by 11.59 pm on the next business/working day.

* Note: In a leap year 60 days will be 29 February

The Department cross-checks information provided on reports with data provided by Australian Border Force. Inaccurate reporting and late submissions are offences under the Act.

All fees, including late fees, are collected by the Department on behalf of the Commonwealth and are not subject to GST.

Application Fees: Please note that the assessment of your licence application will not commence until a cleared payment is received, unless a fee waiver has been granted. It may take up to 5 working days for a cheque to be cleared, which may delay the assessment of your application.

Levy Payments: Levy payments cannot be made until you receive an invoice for the levy from the Department. Your payment must be received by the Department on or before the due date. Please confirm your financial institution's processing deadlines as it may take up to four days for an electronic funds transfer (EFT) payment to be received by the Department. The licence application fee and levies can either be paid by credit card via the payment portal, cheque, BPay or by EFT. All payments must identify your company name and/or licence number or invoice number.

EFT payments should be made to:

Account Title: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Bank/Branch: Reserve Bank of Australia, Canberra
BSB: 092009
Account Number: 115859

Cheques should be made payable to:

The Collector of Public Monies

Address:
Attention: Accounts Receivable
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
GPO Box 3090
Canberra ACT 2601

Holders of an equipment licence (EQPL) are required to provide twice yearly reports to the Minister showing the type and quantity of substances imported within that equipment. Licensees may then need to pay levies on the 60th day following the end of the reporting period based on the type and amount of scheduled substances imported.

If no imports or exports were made during a reporting period, a report is not required.

Reports may be lodged at any time before 11.59 pm on the 14th day following the end of each reporting period (including at any time during the relevant reporting period).

Note: If the last day of the reporting period falls on a weekend or public holiday, the report is due by 11.59 pm on the next business/working day.

*Note: In a leap year 60 days will be 29 February

The Department cross-checks information provided on reports with data provided by Australian Border Force. Inaccurate reporting and late submissions are offences under the Act.

The Department aims to assess applications within two weeks of receiving a fully completed application form that includes all supporting documentation and payment of the licence application fee. However, the statutory timeframes of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 stipulates that the Department may take up to 60 days to assess an application. You will need to keep the full 60 day processing time in mind when applying for a licence, as processing times vary.

Applications should be lodged as early as possible prior to the proposed goods being imported.

No.

It is a condition of all licences that the licensee does not allow another person or business to use their licence number.

If you can identify a current licence holder who wishes to transfer their licence to you, a joint application for a transfer of a licence from the licensee to another person (the transferee) can be made. The Department does not charge a fee to complete the transfer. The new licence holder (the Transferee) will be required to pay the import levies and report twice a year.

• List of licences granted under the Act
• Online application to transfer a licence – current licence holder (Transferor) application
  Note: the current licence holder is required to submit the online application.
• Online application to transfer a licence – current licence holder (Transferee) application
  Note: the licence recipient is also required to submit an online application.

Equipment licences (EQPL) expire two years from the commencement date of the licence, unless a shorter date is specified.

The Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 (the Act) and associated regulations contains provisions that prohibit or regulate the manufacture, import, export, distribution or use of equipment that contains scheduled substances or uses scheduled substances in its operation.

The Minister or delegate may grant an equipment licence (EQPL) allowing a licence holder to undertake one or more activities prescribed in the Act and associated regulations. The activities your EQPL allows will be outlined on your licence.

These activities may include Schedule 4 activities and/or Section 69G activities, as outlined in the relevant parts of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act (1989).

Schedule 4 activity means the manufacturing or importing of equipment if:

1. the equipment contains scheduled substances, or uses scheduled substances in its operation; and
2. the manufacturing or importing contravenes Schedule 4 (disregarding subsections 13(2) and (5)).

Examples include equipment containing hydrochlororfluorocarbons (HCFCs) and equipment insulated with foam manufactured with HCFC. Further examples include the following products, when they contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, bromochloromethane or halon:

• dry cleaning machinery
• automotive air conditioning maintenance kits
• extruded polystyrene packaging and insulation
• aerosol products
• rigid polyurethane foam products
• moulded polyurethane foam
• products containing halon
• disposable containers of CFCs
• refrigeration and air conditioning equipment if:
  • the equipment is charged with a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerant
  • the equipment can only operate using a CFC refrigerant or a hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerant, or
  • the equipment is insulated with foam manufactured with a CFC or a HCFC.

Section 69G activity means the manufacturing or importing of equipment in contravention of regulations made for the purposes of section 69G (disregarding subsections 69G(4) and (5).

Section 16(6A) and 16(6B) outline the conditions for granting an equipment licence that allows a Schedule 4 activity or section 69G activity:

• The equipment is essential for medical, veterinary, defence, industrial safety or public safety purposes, and no practical and effective alternative exists.
• The equipment is for use in conjunction with the calibration of scientific, measuring or safety equipment.
• The equipment is used for test, monitoring, or laboratory and analytical use where there is no practical and effective alternative to that equipment.

Only a very limited range of equipment will meet one of the criteria listed above. One example that may meet the criteria is a halon fire suppression system aboard an aircraft where the system is a requirement for airworthiness certification.

Yes.

If you disagree with a decision made relating to your licence application you can write to the Department requesting a reconsideration of the decision and provide further information to support your claims.

You can apply for an independent review of the decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) within 28 days of receiving written notification of the outcome of your licence application. Applications should be made to the Deputy Registrar of the AAT in your capital city.

Note: The 28 days for appealing to the AAT commences on the day the original decision is received by you regardless of whether you have asked the Department to reconsider the decision.

The import of non-refillable containers containing HFCs is prohibited under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956.

Non-refillable containers are specifically manufactured single use containers that are charged with refrigerant and sold and used for servicing or commissioning equipment. After use the containers are sent for disposal and deliberately punctured, in accordance with pressure vessel regulations, emitting the residual amount of refrigerant to the atmosphere.

Product stewardship is about managing the environmental impact of a product over its life cycle, including recycling and/or destruction at the end of the products life. It is recognised that importers cannot be physically responsible for the gas they import as, in most cases, importers on-sell these products and the lifetime of equipment is often many years.

By joining a national product stewardship scheme, an importer is able to fulfil their product stewardship responsibilities.

In the case of refrigerant gas, product stewardship schemes are responsible for the recovery and destruction of gas at the end of life, either during equipment maintenance or decommissioning.

Holders of equipment licences are required to hold membership with an approved product stewardship scheme. The only approved scheme in Australia is run by Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA).

The existing industry scheme, Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA), operates by charging a levy and/or fee to importers of ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases.

RRA then pays a rebate for the return of any used ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases to technicians who recover these gases and return it to wholesalers (who are participants in the RRA program).

When the gases recovered are too contaminated to re-use or re-claim, or there is no demand for that gas for re-use it is transported to RRA for the safe disposal of waste fluorocarbon refrigerants.

The cost to join will vary, depending on the type of product stewardship scheme. Licensees may choose to join an existing scheme or establish a new scheme, either individually or with other importers.

The only approved scheme in Australia is run by Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA).For further information on RRA and their product stewardship scheme please contact them directly:

Web: http://www.refrigerantreclaim.com.au
Phone: +61 2 6230 5244
Fax: +61 2 6230 4533
Email: importers@refrigerantreclaim.com.au

Licensees can consider joining the existing voluntary industry scheme, Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA), or join with other importers to establish a scheme tailored to their needs. Currently, RRA is the only approved scheme in Australia.

To join the RRA product stewardship scheme, please contact RRA directly:

Web: http://www.refrigerantreclaim.com.au
Phone: +61 2 6230 5244
Fax: +61 2 6230 4533
Email: importers@refrigerantreclaim.com.au

Yes.

To change from one scheme to another, licensees will be required to inform the Department of the alternative scheme (of which they intend to become a member) while remaining a member of the scheme on their licence until the Department approves the new scheme and informs the licensee of this.