Customs and Excise (Suspension) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No. 273)

The Minister of Finance has replaced section 9PP of the Customs and Excise (Suspension) Regulations, 2003 (S.I. 257 of 2003), which suspends duty on ammonium nitrate imported by listed companies. The heading changes from 'ammonium nitrate solution' to 'ammonium nitrate', and the suspension is now expressed as running for twenty-four months with effect from 1 May 2024.

Duty on ammonium nitrate of tariff code 3102.30.00 is wholly suspended, but only for the four companies named in the Schedule and only up to their ring-fenced annual allocations in metric tonnes.

The allocations are: Jiangshan Civil Explosives (Private) Limited 12 000 tonnes a year; Intrachem (Private) Limited 25 000 tonnes; Citbay (Private) Limited 12 000 tonnes; and ETG Curechem (Private) Limited 20 000 tonnes. In each case the goods are described as ammonium nitrate, whether or not in aqueous solution.

Ammonium nitrate is used both as a fertiliser input and in the manufacture of commercial explosives for mining, so the suspension matters to fertiliser blenders, explosives makers and their mining customers. Anyone importing outside the named companies or beyond the ring-fenced tonnage pays duty in the normal way. The instrument was gazetted on 12 July 2024.