Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (JD Supra Australia)

On July 1, 2020, the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) will replace the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS). The Industrial Chemicals Act 2019, which was passed by Parliament in February 2019 and received Royal Assent in March 2019, created AICIS, a new regulatory scheme for the importation and manufacture of industrial chemicals in...

In August 2018, Safe Work Australia (SWA) issued a national guide on classifying hazardous chemicals. SWA intends the guidance for manufacturers and importers of substances, mixtures, and articles who have a duty under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations to classify them.

On March 28, 2018, Bioenergy Australia and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) released “Biofuels to bioproducts: A growth industry for Australia.” The paper calls for the implementation of a Five-Point Plan creating a bioenergy policy framework to spur growth in Ausralia’s bioeconomy.

The Australian government is reforming the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) to make regulatory effort more proportionate to risk; promote safer innovation by encouraging the introduction of lower risk chemicals; and continue to protect workers, the public, and the environment from any harmful effects of industrial chemicals.

The Industrial Chemicals Bill 2017 describes the legislative framework for a reformed, risk-based regulatory scheme for Australia to continue to regulate the introduction of industrial chemicals. The Australian government has presented the bill to Parliament. On June 1, 2017, the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) published Consultation Paper 5, which seeks...

On November 24, 2016, the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy began a public consultation on the Draft National Standard for the Environmental Risk Management of Industrial Chemicals and a supporting Draft Explanatory Document. According to the Department, the primary purpose of the papers is to outline the design and operation of the National Standard. The Draft National...

On June 23, 2016, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced $2.4 million in funding to support the development and construction of a biocrude and biofuel laboratory in Queensland. The $5.3 million project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2019 and will be Australia's first biorefinery producing renewable diesel and jet fuel from plant material. Australian companies have...

In June 2016, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) announced the availability of two reports on the potential use of nanotechnologies in existing food additives and food packaging. FSANZ retained an expert toxicologist to review publicly available scientific literature on whether there is reasonable evidence of health risks associated with oral ingestion of titanium dioxide, silicon...

On April 29, 2016, Australia’s National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) published the third consultation paper on its reform initiative. Under the reforms, the requirements to establish that a new chemical can be classified as being not hazardous to human health or the environment, and therefore falls in Hazard Band A, include consideration of several factors,...

As most recently reported in our October 28, 2015, Global Regulatory Update, the Australian government is implementing reforms to the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS). According to an item in the October 6, 2015, issue of The NICNAS Bulletin, the September 2015 implementation plan outlines opportunities for community and industry consultation; timing of...

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) published on July 6, 2015, the final report entitled Nanotechnologies for pesticides and veterinary medicines: regulatory considerations. According to the report, its objective is to highlight the regulatory issues that need to be considered when bringing agricultural or veterinary (agvet) chemical products of nanotechnology to...

On June 17, 2015, the Australian government made a bipartisan agreement to tax Australian-produced biodiesel and ethanol. Cleaner fuel grants for renewable and biobased diesel fuels will end by July 1, 2015, as will the Ethanol production grant. An excise rate on biodiesel will be phased in starting in 2015-2016 at zero percent, and will increase annually, eventually reaching 50 percent of the...

On February 24, 2015, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced $5.2 million in funding that would go to the design and construction of a pilot scale biofuel production facility in Perth.

On October 28, 2014, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) held a nanotechnology regulation symposium on developing a regulatory framework for nanotechnologies in Australian agriculture and animal husbandry. The program was based on a draft report entitled Regulatory Considerations for Nanopesticides and Veterinary Nanomedicines.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) will host a nanotechnology regulation symposium on October 28, 2014. APVMA states that it “has worked over many years to progressively develop a regulatory framework for nanoscale agvet chemicals and chemical products.”