National approach needed for chemicals regulation

A national approach to chemicals and plastics regulation in Australia would reduce unnecessary costs for industry and improve compliance, according to a report released today by the Productivity Commission.

Commissioner Mike Woods said, 'While the regulatory framework has been reasonably effective in achieving public health, workplace safety, environment protection and national security goals, there are many inefficiencies. Governments have regulated chemicals in different ways, even though the hazards and risks they pose vary little across the country, and this has resulted in unnecessary complexity under our federal system'.

The report responds to a request by the Australian Government to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the regulatory framework, and to provide input to a special Ministerial Taskforce that has been asked to develop a streamlined system of chemicals and plastics regulation. COAG has already agreed to a number of recommendations contained in the Commission's draft report, which was released in March this year.

Key recommendations in the final report include:

• establishment of a standing committee on chemicals to promote consistency in chemicals related policy settings across portfolios
• giving the scheduling of poisons the separate consideration it warrants
• consolidation of control-of-use regulation of agricultural and veterinary products under the APVMA, but delivered through service level agreements by the states and territories
• avoiding placing other chemicals of security concern under the current inconsistent framework used to regulate security sensitive ammonium nitrate.

As a general principle, the Commission considers that standard setting is best undertaken by expert-based, rather than representative, bodies. In light of this, the Commission remains concerned about the tripartite structure of the body that is to replace the Australian Safety and Compensation Council.

The Commission proposes a four-tiered governance model for chemicals and plastics regulations, which would allow all governments to participate in developing and implementing regulation. The standards would be flexible enough to accommodate circumstances facing individual governments, while achieving national uniformity in many instances.