On 7 May 2013, the Austrian National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) announced an important change in the registration structure where the lower annual threshold of commercial introducers (manufactures or importers) of industrial chemicals is dropping from $500,000 to $100,000 (Australian dollar).
From 1 Sep 2013, the current three-tier registration structure will be reformed to incorporate four levels. Therefore, the present registrants at Tier 1 (annual value less than $500,000) of registration will be further divided into two levels: introducers of relevant industrial chemicals with an annual value under $100,000 (Level A) and those introducing an annual value between $100,000 - $499,000 (Level B). Figure below illustrates the changes by comparing the present three-tier structure and the new four-level model.
The change of the registration structure is of particular importance to the commercial introducers of industrial chemicals as the level they belong to is directly correlated to specific NICNAS Registration fees and charges. The new fees of NICNAS registration are listed in the below table across different annual introduction values and levels.
Annual Introduction Value | Level | Total Fee and Charge |
$1 - $99 999 | A | $133 |
$100 000 - $499 999 | B | $395 |
$500 000 - $4 999 999 | C | $1857 |
$5 000 000 and above | D | $18 475 |
NICNAS will send out registration renewal packs to all NICNAS registrants in mid-Jul 2013 and companies are advised to contact NICNAS immediately if the packs are not received by 22 Jul 2013. The commercial introducers are subject to late penalties if they fail to lodge registration renewal by 31 Aug 2013.
