Australia made several modifications to its cosmetic regulations in the first quarter of 2020, in a bid to prepare for a smooth transition from the existing National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) to the new regulatory scheme—the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS)—that is due to be effective in this July.
1. Australia NICNAS Revamps Cosmetic Questionnaire
In late January, Australia NICNAS revised the “Is My Product a Cosmetic?” questionnaire on its official website, which was designed to help enterprises to judge whether their products belong to cosmetics [1].
The amended questionnaire consists of 4 questions:
Where the product will be used.
What effect the product has on the human body.
Why people use the product.
If any of the ingredients are on the Poisons Standard (a list of poisons and medicines).
If the product is a cosmetic, NICNAS will regulate the ingredients and offer instructions on how to legally import or manufacture (introduce) cosmetic ingredients and who to contact to help find out other compliance obligations for the product.
2. Australia Consults on Proposed AICIS Fees and Changes to AICS [2]
On January 31, 2020, the Australian government opened a consultation on proposed fees and charges for the country’s new chemical regulatory framework, AICIS. The consultation paper outlines several key elements of the charging arrangements for AICIS, including cost recovery framework, AICIS cost estimates, design of regulatory charges and proposed schedule of AICIS fees and charges. Feedback will be received until March 13, 2020.
Besides, Australia is also consulting on the removal of non-industrial chemicals from the Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances (AICS), a database of chemicals available for industrial use in Australia. This consultation will end on March 31, 2020.
3. Australia NICNAS Clarifies the Compliance Requirements of Hand Sanitizers [3]
According to NICNAS’s announcement on March 13, hand sanitizers are regulated either as cosmetics or therapeutic goods depending on their ingredients and the claims made about their effects.
The specific information about regulatory obligations for importing or manufacturing cosmetics is available on the NICNAS website.