Division 8 Transport documentation

75   False or misleading transport documentation: liability of consignor, packer, loader, receiver and others

(cf model provisions, s 112)

(1) Application of section
This section applies where goods are consigned for transport by road, or for transport partly by road and partly by some other means, and where all or any part of the transport by road occurs or is to occur in this jurisdiction.

(2) Liability of consignor
A person is guilty of an offence if:

(a)  the transport documentation relating to the consignment is false or misleading in a material particular relating to the mass, dimension or load restraint of any or all of the goods consigned, and

(b)  the person is the consignor of the goods.

(3) Liability of packer
A person is guilty of an offence if:

(a)  the goods are packed in Australia in a freight container or other container or in a package or on a pallet for transport by road, and

(b)  the transport documentation relating to the consignment is false or misleading in a material particular relating to the mass, dimension or load restraint of any or all of the goods consigned, and

(c)  the person is the packer of the goods.

(4) Liability of loader
A person is guilty of an offence if:

(a)  the goods are loaded on a vehicle or combination for transport by road, and

(b)  the transport documentation relating to the consignment is false or misleading in a material particular relating to the mass, dimension or load restraint of any or all of the goods consigned, and

(c)  the person is the loader of the goods.

(5) Liability of receiver
A person is guilty of an offence if:

(a)  the goods are packed outside Australia in a freight container or other container or in a package or on a pallet for transport by road, and

(b)  the transport documentation relating to the consignment is false or misleading in a material particular relating to the mass, dimension or load restraint of any or all of the goods consigned, and

(c)  the person is the receiver of the goods in Australia.

(6) Container weight declaration—liability of responsible entity
A person is guilty of an offence if:

(a)  a container weight declaration provided to an operator of a vehicle or combination contains information that is false or misleading in a material particular, and

(b)  the person is the responsible entity who offered the freight container concerned to the operator for transport.

(7) Container weight declaration—liability of operator
A person is guilty of an offence if:

(a)  a container weight declaration provided to a driver of a vehicle or combination contains information that is false or misleading in a material particular, and

(b)  the person is the operator of the vehicle or combination who arranged for the freight container concerned to be transported in this jurisdiction.

(8) Container weight declaration—certain information not misleading
Information in a container weight declaration is not false or misleading for the purposes of this Act merely because it overstates the actual weight of the freight container and its contents.

(9) Reasonable steps defence
A person prosecuted for an offence under this section has the benefit of the reasonable steps defence.

Note. Section 89 (Reasonable steps defence—reliance on container weight declaration) makes provision for reliance on a container weight declaration where an operator or driver is charged with an offence involving a breach of a mass requirement and is seeking to rely on the reasonable steps defence.

(10) Definition
In this section:

receiver of goods in Australia means:

(a)  the person who first receives them in Australia, otherwise than as the person who merely unloads them, or

(b)  the person who unpacks the goods after they are first unloaded in Australia,

      but does not include a class of persons declared by the regulations to be excluded from this definition.

Maximum penalty:

(a)  first offence—50 penalty units (in the case of an individual) or 250 penalty units (in the case of a corporation), or

(b)  subsequent offence—100 penalty units (in the case of an individual) or 500 penalty units (in the case of a corporation).