Q.01

Does my business need AICIS registration?

Your business needs AICIS registration if it imports industrial chemicals into Australia, or manufactures them there, during a registration year. That includes chemicals in a mixture or product, such as a cosmetic ingredient. Under s 13 of the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019, introducing an industrial chemical while unregistered is an offence and a civil penalty provision [1]. Whether it applies to you depends on what you bring in or make, and what it is used for.

Approach: I read the current compilation of the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 (compiled 14 October 2024). I couldn't open the AICIS website guidance pages this time, so this answer relies on the Act itself.

The tests in the Act

  1. Do you "introduce"? The Act defines "introduce" as "import, or manufacture in Australia". Manufacture means producing the chemical by a chemical reaction or extracting it (from nature or from a UVCB substance) [2]. A business that only buys from Australian suppliers and resells or blends isn't introducing under this definition. Importing finished goods that contain chemicals is still importing.

  2. Is it an industrial chemical? It is one only to the extent it has an "industrial use" [3]. Industrial use means any use other than (or in addition to) these:

    • agvet chemical products
    • therapeutic goods
    • vaping goods
    • human food
    • animal feed

    [2]

    Cosmetic ingredients "could be" industrial chemicals [2]. A chemical released from an article that has an industrial use is also covered [3].

  3. Is it an excluded introduction? Most of the Act, including the registration Part, does not apply to these [4]:

    • naturally-occurring chemicals
    • non-isolated intermediates
    • incidentally-introduced chemicals
    • chemicals released from an article that was not designed to release them
    • goods kept under customs control at a port or airport that leave Australia within 25 working days
    • introductions by an individual solely for personal use
    • other kinds of chemical or circumstances prescribed by the rules

Being exempted or reported is not the same as being excluded. Exempted introductions (very low risk) and reported introductions (low risk) avoid assessment, but the registration requirement still applies. Record-keeping and reporting duties also apply [5][6][7].

What registration involves

  • Who and what is registered: you register the business (the introducer) on the Register of Industrial Chemical Introducers, not individual chemicals [8].
  • Timing: the registration year runs 12 months from 1 September [2]. You must be registered for the year before you introduce. If you register after 1 September, registration takes effect from the day it is granted [9].
  • Charges: the application must come with the registration charge and any scheduling charge [10]. The amounts are set by regulations under the Industrial Chemicals Charges Acts [11].
  • Penalties for introducing while unregistered: 500 penalty units (fault-based offence), 60 penalty units (strict liability offence) or a 500 penalty unit civil penalty [1].
  • What registration does not cover: each introduction must also fit a category (exempted, reported, listed on the Inventory, or assessed). Registered businesses must make an annual declaration [5][12].

AICIS publishes guidance on how to register and registration cost; I couldn't open either page this time. If you tell me what you import or make and its end use (for example cosmetics, cleaning products, paints, or goods containing chemicals), I can apply these tests to your case. I can also check whether your business is already on the AICIS Register of Industrial Chemical Introducers and whether your chemicals are listed on the Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals.

Q.02

How much does registration cost?

For the current registration year (1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027), the AICIS registration charge runs from nil to $3,500. It depends on the value of the industrial chemicals your business imported or manufactured in the previous financial year. If you introduced no relevant industrial chemical in the 12 months before the registration year, the charge is nil. The charges rise sharply from the 2027-28 registration year.

Approach: I read the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 for the charge provisions. The Act leaves the amounts to regulations, so I took them from the Industrial Chemicals Charges Regulations 2020 (Customs and General versions, compilations dated 11 July 2026) and the 2026 amending regulations on the Federal Register of Legislation. The AICIS cost guidance page didn't load this time.

How it works under the Act

  • Every registered person "is liable to pay" the registration charge for each registration year [13].
  • You pay it with your application [10].
  • The amount is whatever the regulations under the three Industrial Chemicals Charges Acts (Customs, Excise and General) prescribe [11].

Charge tiers

Value of relevant industrial chemicals introduced in the preceding financial year2026-27 year (from 1 Sep 2026)2027-28 year onward (from 1 Sep 2027)
$0 to $49,999nilnil
$50,000 to $99,999$10$65
$100,000 to $249,999$20$180
$250,000 to $499,999$35$350
$500,000 to $2,999,999$210$2,100
$3,000,000 to $4,999,999$375$3,750
$5,000,000 to $14,999,999$2,450$24,500
$15,000,000 or more$3,500$35,000

Sources: the 2026-27 table is in force in both the Customs Regulations and the General Regulations, each at s 5(2). The 2027-28 table is set by Schedule 1, Part 2 of the General Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026, which commences 1 July 2027. The Customs Regulations' amendment history shows a matching amendment to s 5 from that instrument's Customs counterpart, also commencing 1 July 2027. I didn't open that Customs amending text, so the 2027-28 figures above are from the General version.

What counts towards the value (s 6 of the Charges Regulations)

  • Imports: customs value, plus customs duty, plus insurance and freight costs.
  • Manufacture: labour and material costs, plus factory overhead costs.
  • No double counting: if imported chemicals are used to make other relevant industrial chemicals, the share used that way is deducted.
  • Rounding: the total is rounded to the nearest dollar.
  • Left out of the value: naturally-occurring chemicals, non-isolated intermediates, incidentally-introduced chemicals, and chemicals only released from goods for maintenance or servicing. Also left out are introductions solely for personal use, and those solely for educational, not-for-profit research or charitable purposes.

Other costs to budget for

  • Scheduling charge: an application must also include any scheduling charge. This is set separately under the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Charge Acts 2021 [10]. I didn't look up its amount.
  • Records: you must keep records showing how you worked out your registration charge, and keep them for 5 years [14].
  • Assessment fees: registration doesn't cover fees for things like assessment certificate applications, which I didn't look up here.

If you give me your rough annual import or manufacturing value, I can tell you which tier you'd fall into for each year.

Q.03

How can I check whether a business is registered?

You check it against the Register of Industrial Chemical Introducers. The Act requires AICIS to keep this register and make it publicly available on the AICIS website [15]. You can search it there by business name or registration number, or I can search it here for you.

Approach: I read the Register provisions of the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 (ss 14-19) and ran test searches of the AICIS Register of Industrial Chemical Introducers to see what an entry shows.

What the Register shows

  • Required content: for each registered person, the Act says the Register "must contain" their name, address and registration number. The address "must not be made publicly available," so the public listing gives only the name and number [16].
  • A typical entry: the business name, an AICIS registration number starting with "NIC", and a registration status. For example, 3M Australia Pty Ltd is NIC501010, status "Renewed (active registration)" [17]. Numbers come in different lengths. Zymatic Pty Ltd, for instance, is NIC1013873 [18].

Tips for searching

  • Search the legal entity name (for example "... Pty Ltd"), not a trading or brand name. The Register lists the registered person's name.
  • Use the NIC number if you have one. It's the most reliable match. Suppliers or customers can give you theirs.
  • Check the status, not just whether the name appears. Registration runs for a registration year. AICIS "must" cancel a registration if the business asks in writing. It "may" also cancel one if the name was entered by mistake, after a conviction or civil penalty under the Act in that year or the 3 years before, or if materially false or misleading information was given [19].
  • If your own entry is wrong, you "may" notify the Executive Director in writing. They "must" correct it if satisfied the information is incorrect [20].

Send me the business name or NIC number and I'll look it up and report its registration number and status.

Q.04