Reforms to Regulations of industrial chemicals – consultation paper – Released for comment

  The Federal Department of Health has released the first of four consultation papers for Implementing reforms to the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) – Consultation Paper 1 – as part of a series of reforms to the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS). The Federal Government is reforming the regulation of industrial chemicals so that the assessment effort is more proportionate to the risks likely to be posed by industrial chemicals, while also maintaining Australia’s robust health and safety standards. As a result of the reforms, the number of industrial chemicals that are subject to pre-market assessment by NICNAS is expected to decrease by more than 70%, with pre-market assessments dropping from approximately 3.3% of all new chemicals to 0.75%. In September 2015, NICNAS released an Implementation Plan detailing its proposed approach to consultation on the implementation of the reforms.  This includes:

• consultation with the new NICNAS Strategic Consultative Committee
• public release of detailed Consultation Papers
• public workshops, and
• consultation with all relevant Commonwealth agencies.

Submissions on Consultation Paper 1 are to be forwarded to NICNAS.reforms@nicnas.gov.au or port to NICNAS Reforms, GPO Box 58, SYDNEY NSW 2001 by Monday 14 December 2015.  Further enquiries can be made by emailing NICNAS.reforms@nicnas.gov.au.