AICIS updates its Categorisation Guidelines in September 2026, adding 293 chemicals to its hazard lists. Introducers should re-check whether their introductions still qualify for a lower-risk category.

A change that could quietly move your chemical into a harder category

If you import or manufacture industrial chemicals in Australia — and remember, that includes almost every ingredient in cosmetics and cleaning products — the category you introduce under decides how much work you have to do. In September 2026, AICIS is changing one of the tools that determines that category, and it's worth a look before it takes effect.

What's changing

AICIS will issue updated Industrial Chemicals Categorisation Guidelines in September 2026. Among the changes, the guidelines' hazard lists are being expanded significantly — 293 new entries added and 122 existing entries updated, drawn from updated external sources and recent AICIS assessments.

These lists exist to flag chemicals known to have high-hazard characteristics — for example carcinogenicity, or reproductive or developmental toxicity. Their practical function is to save introducers from having to generate toxicity data to prove a chemical isn't high-hazard: if it's on the list, that question is already answered, and not in your favour.

Why it matters for your introductions

AICIS sorts every introduction into a category — listed, exempted, reported, assessed or commercial evaluation — and the hazard profile of your chemical is central to which categories are open to you. A high-hazard classification effectively closes off the lower-risk pathways.

That's the crux: a chemical you have comfortably introduced under a low-risk category could, from September 2026, be flagged as high-hazard. In practice, that can push an introduction toward the assessed pathway — a far bigger undertaking involving a full data package, significant cost and time. For an individual introducer, a reproductive or developmental toxicity classification can function as an effective barrier to introduction at all.

The point is not to alarm — most introductions won't be affected. But you won't know which side of the line yours fall on unless you check against the updated list.

What introducers should do

  • Re-screen your chemicals against the updated hazard lists once they're issued in September 2026 — don't assume last year's categorisation still holds.
  • Factor it into new introductions and into your thinking ahead of the 30 November annual declaration, which certifies that everything you introduced was properly authorised.
  • Plan ahead if a chemical moves. If an ingredient shifts into high-hazard territory, there are usually options — reformulation, a different pathway, or a shared consortium approach to the assessed route — but they take time to arrange.

Who should pay attention

  • Anyone importing or manufacturing industrial chemicals — including cosmetics, personal care, cleaning and consumer products.
  • Introducers relying on exempted or reported categories — the pathways most sensitive to a hazard reclassification.
  • Brands with ingredients drawn from recent AICIS assessments or updated international hazard sources — the most likely to be caught by the new entries.

How Engel Hellyer & Partners can help

Re-checking chemicals against updated hazard lists and the AIIC, and working out the right introduction category, is core to what we do. When the September 2026 guidelines land, we can screen your introductions, flag anything that has moved, and — where a chemical shifts into a harder category — map out the realistic options, including the consortium models we regularly run for the assessed pathway.

If you'd like to get ahead of the change rather than discover a problem at declaration time, we're happy to take a look.

This article is general information only and does not constitute regulatory advice for any specific chemical or introduction. Requirements change; confirm the current position before acting.

Further reading

Primary sources from AICIS:

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Written by 
Dr Gloria Mao
Has over 15 years of international experience in the food, complementary medicine and cosmetic industries. She received her doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles in Toxicology and Pharmacology. She received her Masters of Arts in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University and her Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois.