AICIS of Australia, Releases “Evaluations Roadmap” for Industrial Chemicals

On September 17, 2021, the Australian Industrial Chemicals Induction Scheme (AICIS) released the “Evaluations Roadmap“, which outlines a strategic approach to assessing the risks to human health and the environment when industrial chemicals are introduced and used in Australia. The contents of the roadmap are as follows.

• • An explanation of what chemicals can be evaluated.
  • Evaluation targets and six action areas to achieve goals
  • Targets for 2024 and beyond

Evaluation targets

• • Identifying and prioritizing industrial chemicals for evaluation
  • Producing targeted, risk-proportionate, transparent, and evidence-based evaluations and recommendations to risk managers
  • Providing high-quality information and risk management advice for the safe use of industrial chemicals

Comprehensive actions and targets for 2024 and 2030

• • Comprehensive actions
  • Continue to accelerate the evaluation of industrial chemicals that can be used in Australia
  • Publish information on our website to help users to make informed choices about the chemicals they use
  • Consider the impacts of our evaluation outcomes on stakeholders
  • Make timely recommendations to risk managers

Targets for 2024 and 2030

• • Targets for 2024
    By the end of 2024, evaluate at least 20% of the chemicals on the Inventory for which a risk assessment is not currently available.

• • Targets for 2030
    By the end of 2030, evaluate the remaining unassessed higher concern industrial chemicals.

Six action areas to achieve goals

The roadmap outlines the following six action areas and outcomes that are critical to achieving its goals.

1. 1. Risk reduction
      Strengthened national capacity for industrial chemical risk reduction
   2. Targeting evaluations
      Risk-proportionate, transparent and targeted evaluations
   3. Knowledge and evidence
      Produce targeted and evidence-based evaluations through effective use of data
   4. Capacity building
      Supporting best practice through education and training
   5. Leadership and engagement
      Utilizing global chemical intelligence for innovation
   6. Informing choice
      Enabling choices about the use of chemicals through the provision of risk information

The press release of AICIS and related documents can be viewed at the following URLs.

• Press release, “Our roadmap for evaluating industrial chemicals”
  https://www.industrialchemicals.gov.au/news-and-notices/our-roadmap-evaluating-industrial-chemicals
• Detailed page of the roadmap, “Evaluations Roadmap”
  https://www.industrialchemicals.gov.au/consumers-and-community/our-evaluations/evaluations-roadmap