On June 5, 2020, Safe Work Australia (SWA), Australia's national authority for work health and safety, announced in a press release [1] that, the adoption of the 7th revised edition of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) will be delayed to January 1, 2021.
Early this year, the SWA said that the GHS Revision 7 would be officially employed starting from July 1, 2020 (ChemLinked News [2]), with a two-year transitional period given to manufacturers and importers of chemicals.
However, in view of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australia businesses, the members of the SWA have agreed to delay the start date of the full two-year transitional period to January 1, 2021.
Meanwhile, since some importers and manufacturers have been working on the implementation of GHS Revision 7, the SWA noted that relevant regulatory arrangements will be rolled out to allow businesses to classify and label their chemicals in accordance with GHS Revision 7 starting from July 1, 2020. With these arrangements in place, suppliers and end users will also be able to supply and use GHS Revision 7 labelled chemicals.
The SWA is planning to release guidance to help businesses to navigate the transition to GHS Revision 7.
