Australia Releases Guidance on AICIS's Inventory of Chemicals

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May 19, 2021Chanyanis UtiskulBlog

The Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) published guidelines on the Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals (Inventory) and notified chemicals added to the Inventory on 29 April 2021. 

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The Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals

During the transition from the previous National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) to the AICIS scheme, Australia introduced the operation of a new chemical Inventory on 1 July 2020. In addition to the new name, the new Inventory only contains chemicals with industrial uses. It also removed the "confidential section" of chemicals with confidential business information (CBI) protection while introducing the new AICIS approved chemical name (AACN) and generalized end-use. A one-page guidance document was included in the April 2021 Inventory notice to help businesses understand the content of the Inventory. Once found listed in the database, a chemical will generally be displayed along with information on conditions and/or regulatory obligations called the "terms of listing." The Inventory, however, does not provide information about whether the chemicals are banned and/or restricted by other Australian regulators (e.g., Australian's Poison Standards) or the safety information, according to the authority. 

The Inventory was established and operated in accordance with Part 5 of the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 and its rules.

The 29 April 2021 notice introduced the following seven chemicals to the Inventory:

  • Hexanedioic acid, polymer with alpha-carboxy-omega-methoxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) amide with 5-amino-1,3,3-trimethylcyclohexanemethanamine monoamide with N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)carbamic acid, 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, hydrazine, 3-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylpropanoic acid and 5-isocyanato-1-(isocyanatomethyl)-1,3,3-trimethylcyclohexane (CAS RN 2630973-00-9)
  • Silane, ethenyltriethoxy-, reaction products with ethylene-1-octene polymer (CAS RN 1227292-98-9)
  • Acetic acid ethenyl ester, polymer with ethene, reaction products with ethenyltriethoxysilane (CAS RN 1630965-00-2)
  • Silane, ethenyltriethoxy-, reaction products with 1-butene-ethylene polymer 1198762-69-4
  • 1,3-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, polymer with 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol, 1,2-ethanediol, 2-ethyl-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol and hexanedioic acid, 1,3-dihydro-1,3-dioxo-5-isobenzofurancarboxylate dihydrogen 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylate (CAS RN 949164-11-8)
  • Isocyanic acid, polymethylenepolyphenylene ester, polymer with 2-methyloxirane polymer with oxirane ether with 2-ethyl-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol (3:1) (CAS RN 58228-06-1)
  • 2-Oxepanone, homopolymer, 2-[(1-oxo-2-propen-1-yl)oxy]ethyl ester (CAS RN 110489-05-9)

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The key impact of these guidelines is that importers and manufacturers of industrial chemicals are now subject to a new way of introducing chemicals called the Industrial Chemicals Categorization Guidelines. The listed introduction, i.e., the chemical is on the Inventory, is the first step to help determine if the products are authorized to be imported and manufactured into Australia and to what extent. Importers and manufacturers of chemicals and chemical products must first search their products in the Inventory database and comply with all the terms of listing (e.g., specific information requirements and volume permitted). For unlisted chemicals and/or the introduction of chemicals outside any terms, importers and manufacturers must work with the AICIS to categorize their introduction based on the other types of categories according to the risk level, which includes exempted, reported, assessed, commercial evaluation and exceptional circumstance introduction. 








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