Proceedings against a Customs Broker under the Customs Brokers...

Proceedings against a Customs Broker under the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations were invalid because the mandatory ninety-day period for issuing notice was breached. Where no date of receipt of the offence report was disclosed, the Department's knowledge of the alleged contraventions through its own customs notice, and at the latest their adjudication, constituted the relevant starting point. The regulatory notice was issued beyond the prescribed period even from the later event. The breach vitiated the proceedings, requiring the penalty order to be set aside; the merits of the alleged contraventions remained unexamined.