Updates made to steps 4.4 and 5.4 of the Guide to categorising your chemical importation and manufacture made plus 2 new appendices added.

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Information you need to work out your introduction category

Before you dive into the details of how to work out the category of your chemical introduction, we want to give you an idea of the information you'll need to do this.

Make sure you've checked out our page Before you start categorising your introduction before reading further.

Getting started

On this page you can read about:

  • Information you must know
  • Information you might need - if your introduction is not in the listed category
  • Information it might be useful to have - if your introduction is not in the listed category

If you don't have some of this information you may need to contact your supplier for it, or you might need to ask them to help you with categorisation.

We refer to categorisation steps on this page. These are steps you need to follow to work out what category your introduction can be authorised under: exempted, reported or assessed.

You must have permission to use information that you relied on to demonstrate the absence of hazard characteristics. If we ask you for the information that you relied on to categorise your introduction, you need to provide us with the detailed information, including full study reports, of the kind specified in the Categorisation Guidelines to demonstrate the absence of the hazard characteristics.

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Information you must know about your chemical's identity

Chemical identity - do you have the proper name of your chemical?

You must know this. If you don’t, you must have a relationship with someone who does know it and can provide it to you or directly to us. Usually, it will be your supplier.

Related information on this topic

Record keeping - outlines requirements for suppliers to be able to provide information to us, such as the proper name of the chemical.

Confidential business information - we have measures to protect a supplier's CBI. For example, your supplier can add chemical identity information into a pre-introduction report (these are required for reported introductions). We will see this information, not you.

Information you must know about your chemical's Inventory status

Is your chemical on the Inventory? You must check this.

The Inventory is our chemical database of chemicals available for industrial use in Australia. If you don’t know your chemical's identity, you might need to ask your supplier to check the Inventory for you and to let you know if the chemical is there or not.

If you are searching the Inventory yourself, you need to understand what your search results mean. You also need to understand what to do next if you can't find the chemical. Sometimes, a chemical is listed on the Inventory but won't come up in search results because of CBI. We can help in this regard by confirming whether the chemical is listed or not.

Related information

What your Inventory search results will show — explanations of listing terms and steps to follow.

I can't find my chemical on the Inventory — the reasons you might be having trouble getting a search result on the Inventory and steps to follow.

If the chemical is on the Inventory

Does your introduction comply with any terms or conditions in the Inventory listing? This includes any requirements to provide AICIS with specific information about your introduction.

This page explains Inventory listing terms and your regulatory obligations

If you don’t know the chemical identity of the chemical you are introducing, you’ll need to ask your supplier to help you confirm that your introduction meets the terms or conditions of the Inventory listing. We suggest that your supplier tell you what the terms or conditions of the Inventory listing of your chemical are, so that you can ensure that your introduction of the chemical meets these.

 

Information you might need, information it might be useful to have

Introduction volume

Do you know the total quantity of chemical in kilograms that you will manufacture or import into Australia within a registration year (September- August)?

You might need this to work out your exposure band for human health and the environment.

Steps 2, 3, 4.1, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3

Introduction concentration

Do you know what the concentration (%) of your chemical will be when it’s introduced into Australia?

You might need this to work out the human health exposure band.

Steps 3 and 4.3

End use concentration

Do you know the final concentration (%) of the chemical in end use products?

You might need this to work out the human health exposure band.

 Steps 3, 4.2 and 4.3

End use 

Do you know what the chemical will ultimately  be used for?

You might need this to help you work out your exposure band for human health and the environment.

Steps 1, 2, 3, 4.2, 5.2 

Hazard information 

Do you have any existing hazard information available on the chemical or from suitable read-across information?

Note that the higher your introduction's exposure band, the more hazard information you will need to work out your chemical's hazard characteristics and then it's introduction category.

Steps 4.2, 4.4, 5.2, 5.4 

Specified classes of introduction

Do you know if your introduction a ‘specified class of introduction? Are you introducing any of these specified classes of introduction?

Specified classes of introduction might have different requirements for categorisation. You might need to know if your introduction is one when following our categorisation steps.

To find out more about specified classes of introduction, refer to section 7 of the General Rules.

Steps 2, 3, 4.1, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5

It's useful to have this information as it will help you get to your introduction category more easily.

Is your chemical a polymer?

Some requirements only apply to polymers such as some of the environment exposure band criteria.

Steps 2, 4.4, 5.5

If your chemical is a polymer, do you know its molecular weight? Is it a high molecular weight polymer?

High molecular weight polymers usually have less information requirements for categorisation.

Steps 2, 4.4, 5.3, 5.4

International assessments

Has there been an international assessment of your chemical?

Was it assessed by a trusted / accepted overseas assessment body for risks to human health or the environment?

Does your introduction meet the criteria for international assessments? Some (but not all) of the criteria for international assessments includes:

  • the chemical must have been internationally assessed for the same end use as your planned use in Australia 
  • the risks to human health or the environment in Australia must not be any higher than the risks overseas 
  • the risks must be able to be managed in Australia

You must follow our detailed guidance on criteria for international assessments in steps 4.2 (human health) and 5.2 (environment)

If you can answer yes all the criteria for international assessments, it could mean there is a streamlined pathway to work out your introduction category, and that the introduction category could be lower than it might have otherwise been.

Steps 4.2, 5.2

Next go to step 1: introductions that cannot be exempted or reported 

Related content

Basics of importing and manufacturing chemicals

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A quick outline of what you need to do if you're planning to introduce (import or manufacture) industrial chemicals - or products that release industrial chemicals - for commercial purposes.

What your Inventory search results will show

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The Inventory contains information about the chemical identity and regulatory obligations relating to the importation and manufacture of industrial chemicals in Australia.
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