Consultation on proposed amendments to the General Rules

What this is about

After the first year of operation of the AICIS, a number of minor operational issues have been identified which require amendments to the details set out in these Ministerial Rules. These issues have been identified both by the regulated industry and by staff within the Office of Chemical Safety (OCS) implementing the scheme.

We are proposing targeted amendments to the Industrial Chemicals (General Rules) 2019 and the Industrial Chemicals (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Rules 2019 to clarify the operation of the Ministerial Rules within existing policy. The proposed amendments relate to the following matters:

• clarifying criteria for industrial chemicals introduced at the nanoscale
• declarations about data ownership
• annual declarations
• clarifying record-keeping for listed introductions, specified classes, designated releases to the environment, internationally-assessed
• the authorisation process for movement of industrial chemicals into or out of Australia that are subject to the Rotterdam Convention
• transitional provisions.

Download documents

Consultation paper

The consultation paper outlines specific proposed amendments, together with extracts from the relevant sections of the Rules, which show clearly the proposed changes. For each proposed amendment, we've added the reason for it and what it means. You can comment on any of the proposed amendments.

These proposed changes address stakeholder feedback we’ve received asking for more clarity within the Ministerial Rules. They would also fix some minor errors and omissions. They are consistent with decisions made when AICIS was implemented last year, and would assist industry by making compliance requirements clearer.

Exposure Draft

The proposed amendments are set out in the Exposure Draft, which is the formal form of draft legislation that is made available for public comment.

Have your say

Use our online form below to provide your comments. You can add your comments directly to the form or upload them as an attachment.

Submit your comments on the proposed amendments

More information

If you have any questions about this consultation, please contact us for help (select 'General Rules consultation' from the topics list).