Australia’s AICIS and Animal Testing Ban Commenced on July 1, 2020

With the entry into force of the Australian Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 on July 1, the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) officially replaced the previous National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) as the new national regulator of the importation and manufacture of industrial chemicals. The ban on the use of new animal test data for chemicals solely used in cosmetics also took effect on the same day, to bring Australia into the line with the EU and other countries introducing an animal testing ban on new cosmetic ingredients ^[1].

Specifically, Australia’s animal testing ban means that new cosmetic ingredients cannot use animal testing data to prove safety or efficacy after July 1, 2020, whether they are manufactured in, or imported into Australia ^[2]. Instead, a range of alternate data sources is encouraged to provide when information is required to support the introduction of a new cosmetic ingredient. This can include a number of recognized alternatives to animal testing, such as in-vitro testing methods validated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in silico (computer-based) methods and read-across methods (information from existing animal test data of a similar chemical).

Significantly, this ban is not a comprehensive ban on cosmetics. There are some gaping loopholes:

• Cosmetics already existing on the market are not affected by the ban;

• The ban only applies to ingredients exclusively used in cosmetics, not to finished products or ingredients for other industrial uses. For example, the fragrances used in cosmetics and household cleaning products.