Australia Restricts Introduction or Use of PeCB and HCB

On March 1, 2023, Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW*) was notified about the removal of two persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from the Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals (AIIC). These two removed POPs are:

*The DCCEW is Australia’s designated national authority to follow the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade.

When the AICIS (an agency in Australia’s Department of Health) bans or restricts the introduction or use of a chemical, the AICIS Executive Director must notify the DCCEEW - Australia’s designated national authority for the Rotterdam Convention, according to Section 159 (2) of the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019. In February 2023, PeCB and HCB were removed from the AIIC and announced ineligible for the reported category type called ‘introduction of 10 kg or less’ under the AICIS (read more).

Background

PeCB and HCB were previously listed in the AIIC. They were identified as POPs at the fourth conference of parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Their global use as industrial or agricultural chemicals has been prohibited under the Stockholm Convention. The AICIS conducted evaluations of these two POPs in 2022, of which the evaluation results indicate that their introduction and subsequent use cannot be managed within the current risk management framework in Australia. Therefore, the AICIS decided to remove them from the AIIC.

From February 8, 2023, their introductions (manufacture or import) cannot be considered as listed introductions and should be categorized before starting relevant activities under the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme. If meet the corresponding criteria, their introductions may be categorized as exempted introductions, reported introductions, or assessed introductions, etc. However, from February 17, 2023, low-volume introductions of PeCB and HCB (up to 10 kg in an AICIS registration year) are not eligible to be categorized as the reported category type called ‘introduction of 10kg or less’. The official guide for categorizing your chemical introductions is available here. For different introduction categories, different obligations apply. See the figure below.