Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) The Secretary may suspend an export licence in relation to one or more kinds of export operations and one or more kinds of prescribed goods and, if applicable, one or more places to which goods may be exported, if the Secretary reasonably believes any of the following:
(a) the integrity of a kind of prescribed goods covered by the licence cannot be ensured;
(b) if the holder of the licence is a kind of person who is required by rules made for the purposes of section 373 to be a fit and proper person for the purposes of this Chapter--the holder is not a fit and proper person;
(c) a requirement referred to in subsection 191(2) is no longer met;
(d) a condition of the licence has been, or is being, contravened;
(e) the holder of the licence:
(i) failed to comply with a direction given to the holder by an authorised officer or the Secretary; or
(ii) failed to comply with a request by an authorised officer to provide information or a document; or
(iii) failed to provide facilities and assistance to an auditor as required by section 271; or
(iv) failed to comply with a request made by an auditor under section 272;
(f) the holder of the licence has engaged in conduct that:
(i) intimidated a person performing functions or exercising powers under this Act; or
(ii) hindered or prevented a person from performing functions or exercising powers under this Act;
(g) the holder of the licence or any other person who participates in the management or control of the holder's export business (as provided by section 220):
(i) made a false, misleading or incomplete statement in an application under this Chapter; or
(ii) gave false, misleading or incomplete information or documents to the Secretary or to another person performing functions or exercising powers under this Act; or
(iii) gave false, misleading or incomplete information or documents to the Secretary or the Department under a prescribed agriculture law;
(h) the holder of the licence is or was an associate of a person referred to in paragraph 221(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d);
(i) the holder of the licence has contravened a requirement of this Act in relation to the licence;
(j) a ground prescribed by the rules exists.
Note 1: A suspension must not be for more than 12 months (see section 208).
Note 2: A decision to suspend an export licence under this section is a reviewable decision (see Part 2 of Chapter 11).
Notice of proposed suspension
(2) The Secretary must not suspend an export licence under subsection (1) unless the Secretary has given a written notice to the holder of the licence in accordance with subsection (3).
(3) A notice under subsection (2) must:
(a) specify each kind of export operations and each kind of prescribed goods and, if applicable, each place, in relation to which the export licence is proposed to be suspended; and
(b) specify the grounds for the proposed suspension; and
(c) subject to subsection (4), request the holder of the export licence to give the Secretary, within 14 days after the day the notice is given, a written statement showing cause why the licence should not be suspended as proposed; and
(d) include a statement setting out the holder's right to seek review of a decision to suspend the licence as proposed.
(4) A notice under subsection (2) is not required to include the request referred to in paragraph (3)(c) if the Secretary reasonably believes that the grounds for the suspension are serious and urgent.