A customs agent's ordinary right of reimbursement from its principal for duties, taxes and charges paid on the principal's behalf can be excluded by express contractual terms. Where such exclusion exists, the agent cannot circumvent it through a restitutionary claim. For the purposes of the Customs Act 1901 (Cth), both a freight forwarder acting as customs agent and the financier on whose behalf goods are entered for home consumption are 'owners' primarily liable for customs duty. Where a financier authorises a customs agent to enter goods for home consumption on its behalf, the financier makes the taxable importation and is liable for GST under s 13-5 of the GST Act.
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