Version 3 of the AICIS Categorisation Guidelines will be published on 24 September 2024

A new version of the Industrial Chemicals Categorisation Guidelines will be published on 24 September 2024. 

The Industrial Chemicals Categorisation Guidelines set out the technical details and requirements that introducers need to categorise industrial chemical introductions in Australia. This is a downloadable document that you must read in conjunction with the Industrial Chemicals (General) Rules 2019.

Alternatively, you can read our online Guide to categorising your chemical importation and manufacture.

Version 3 will include revisions and updates that we originally announced in March 2024, but delayed by 6 months to give introducers time to prepare for the changes. It will also include updates prompted by the recent vaping reforms.

Differences between version 3 and the current Categorisation Guidelines

List of chemicals with high hazards for categorisation

We will add entries to the list of chemicals with high hazards for categorisation (the list) that introducers may need to check during the AICIS categorisation process. This was announced in our response to feedback on proposed changes to AICIS Categorisation Guidelines (March 2024). The changes include:

• almost 600 unique entries added to the list, based on current sources
• the European Commission Endocrine Disruptor List (List I) added as a source

These changes are the first (and probably largest) of what will likely be annual updates to the list. The list is a collation of chemicals that trusted national and international sources consider to be highly hazardous. These updates ensure that the list is consistent with the national and international regulatory status of these highly hazardous chemicals.

This follows the changes that came into place with version 2 of the Categorisation Guidelines that reduced the burden involved in the requirement to check salts and esters of chemicals on the list. In version 1, introducers had to check for salts and esters of all the chemicals on the list. Since version 2 was published, this checking is only required for chemicals that are specified within part 6 of the Categorisation Guidelines.

Download:

Information to demonstrate absence of specific target organ toxicity after repeated exposure and bioaccumulation potential

We will refine the requirements for introducers to show the absence of specific target organ toxicity after repeated exposure and bioaccumulation potential in version 3 of the guidelines. This was announced under ‘Options on how to show the absence of hazards in categorisation’ in our response to feedback on proposed changes to AICIS Categorisation Guidelines (March 2024).

Changes to the regulation of vapes

As we announced in July, the use of chemicals in vaping goods is not an industrial use. This is due to the vaping reforms legislation. We will remove all references to personal vaporisers (and chemicals used in personal vaporisers) in version 3 of the guidelines.

Preview version 3 of the Categorisation Guidelines  

Download: 

The amendment history in the Endnotes section at the end of this document details parts of the Categorisation Guidelines where changes have been made and the nature of the changes.

More guidance will be available

When version 3 of the Categorisation Guidelines takes effect, we will simultaneously update our online ‘Guide to categorising your chemical importation and manufacture’. To help introducers ahead of time, we’ve added notes on these pages about what will be changing.

• List of chemicals with high hazards for categorisation
• Human health hazard band B hazard characteristics
• Environment hazard band A hazard characteristics