AICIS registration for cosmetics brands: who needs it and what it costs

In short

• A business that imports cosmetics or their ingredients, or manufactures industrial chemicals, must register with AICIS before it does, and renew for each year it keeps introducing them.
• For the 2026–27 registration year (1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027), registration costs $85 to $3,585, set by the value of chemicals introduced in the previous financial year.
• A brand that buys all its products and ingredients from Australian suppliers, and only re-sells or blends them, doesn't need to register.
• AICIS registers businesses, not products. The ACCC is the primary regulator of cosmetic products, and a product claiming to treat a condition such as acne or eczema is likely a therapeutic good, regulated by the TGA, unless excluded.

What is AICIS?

AICIS, the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme, regulates the import and manufacture of industrial chemicals in Australia. The Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 establishes it, and it replaced the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) on 1 July 2020.

Cosmetic ingredients, even those described as natural, are regulated as industrial chemicals. AICIS registers the businesses that introduce them, not products. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), not AICIS, is the primary regulator for cosmetic products, including their safety, ingredient labelling and claims. Some ingredients are also restricted by the Poisons Standard, which state and territory laws put into effect.

Who needs to register with AICIS?

You must register your business before you import or manufacture ("introduce") industrial chemicals for a commercial purpose. That includes importing finished products such as labelled soap, shampoo or lotion. For a cosmetics brand, it turns on where products and ingredients come from:

• You import finished cosmetics. Register, unless they are for your own personal use. As the importer, you are the introducer.
• You import ingredients. Importing essential oils, carrier oils, fragrance or base ingredients to blend into cosmetics needs registration.
• You buy in Australia. Introducing doesn't include mixing, blending or re-selling chemicals you bought in Australia. But buy any ingredient from overseas and you must register.
• You make a chemical. A reaction that creates more industrial chemicals, such as making soap from fats or oils and lye, is manufacturing, which needs registration. Soap made in Australia with lye can be excluded if every fat or oil is on the Inventory and you use no more than 10 kg of each a registration year. Any ingredient you import still needs registration.
• You sell from overseas. If you use an Australian agent or distributor, it is the introducer and registers. If you sell directly to Australian customers, you may be the introducer, and must then register before you ship. That needs an ARBN; without one, you need an Australian agent or distributor.

When to register and renew

The registration year runs from 1 September to 31 August. Register before you introduce a chemical in a registration year, then renew by 31 August every year to keep introducing, or penalties may apply. Both are done online, through AICIS Business Services.

What AICIS registration costs in 2026–27

Registration is a flat fee plus a levy set by your registration level. For the 2026–27 registration year, the fee is $85.

Your level depends on the value of industrial chemicals you imported and manufactured in the previous financial year, not on sales or profit. A first-time registrant that introduced nothing that year is level 1.

Level	Value introduced, previous financial year	2026–27 levy	2026–27 total
1	$0 to $49,999	Nil	$85
2	$50,000 to $99,999	$10	$95
3	$100,000 to $249,999	$20	$105
4	$250,000 to $499,999	$35	$120
5	$500,000 to $2,999,999	$210	$295
6	$3,000,000 to $4,999,999	$375	$460
7	$5,000,000 to $14,999,999	$2,450	$2,535
8	$15,000,000 or higher	$3,500	$3,585

These levies carry a one-off discount for levels 2 to 8. AICIS says levies return to their 2025–26 levels, with indexation, from 2027–28. In 2025–26, level 5 cost $2,180 and level 8 $35,080.

Keep records of the value of chemicals you introduce for 5 years, to prove your level. An assessed introduction also needs an assessment certificate, and in 2026–27 applying for one costs from $14,530.

After you register: categorise every chemical

Check that each ingredient is on the Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals, and categorise each chemical introduction. The category sets your obligations:

• Listed: on the Inventory. You must meet any terms of its listing, but needn't tell AICIS beforehand.
• Exempted: very low risk, under very strict criteria. Some need a once-off post-introduction declaration.
• Reported: low risk. You submit a once-off pre-introduction report before you start.
• Assessed: medium to high risk. AICIS must issue an assessment certificate before you introduce it.
• Authorisations: a commercial evaluation authorisation, an alternative to the exempted, reported or assessed category, or a Minister's authorisation in exceptional circumstances.

Registered introducers keep records and submit an annual declaration, due by 30 November after each registration year. For 2025–26, that is 30 November 2026. A registered business that introduced nothing can select "Did not introduce".

AICIS also bans using new animal test data for chemicals used only in cosmetics, and restricts it for chemicals with cosmetic and other end uses. New data come from tests on a live vertebrate (not a human) or a cephalopod from 1 July 2020. Older data can still be used, and there are limited exceptions.

Cosmetic or therapeutic good?

AICIS doesn't regulate therapeutic goods; the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) does. A cosmetic is used on an external part of the body, or in the mouth, to change its odour or appearance, cleanse it, keep it in good condition or protect it. A therapeutic product is used to prevent, diagnose or treat a disease or its symptoms, or to affect the body's structure or functions.

Businesses must decide which their product is, from its claims, its ingredients, how it is used and whether it is an excluded good. Products that claim to treat acne, eczema or psoriasis, or to promote hair growth, would likely be therapeutic goods unless excluded. So would one with an ingredient in Schedule 2, 3, 4 or 8 of the Poisons Standard.

A therapeutic good must be on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) before it is imported, supplied or advertised, unless exempt.

A primary sunscreen, presented mainly to protect the skin from UV, is a therapeutic good, generally listed with an AUST L number. Most secondary sunscreens are cosmetics, such as an SPF 4 to 15 moisturiser that meets the TGA's conditions. These must still meet the Australian sunscreen standard's testing and labelling requirements.

Our skincare page lists the conditions; see also medicine, food or cosmetic? and our TGA listing guide.

The ingredient label

AICIS doesn't set or enforce labelling rules for cosmetics. The ingredient list must meet the Consumer Goods (Cosmetics) Information Standard 2020, a mandatory standard the ACCC is responsible for, and a cosmetic must also meet any Poisons Standard requirements that apply to it.

• Where: on the container, or on the product if it isn't packed in a container. If its size, shape or nature prevents that, the list must be shown another way that ensures the consumer can be informed of the ingredients.
• Order: descending by volume or mass. Or: ingredients at 1% or more in descending order, then those under 1% in any order, then colour additives in any order.
• Names: English names or International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient (INCI) names, prominently shown and clearly legible.
• Exceptions: therapeutic goods, hand sanitisers excluded from the therapeutic goods rules, cosmetics made in Australia for export, free samples and testers.

Fines and penalties may apply for not complying.

Where we come in

At the brief, before the formula, we settle whether the claims for a cream, serum or sunscreen make it a cosmetic or a TGA-listed medicine. Then we develop it on that pathway and manage its manufacture through cGMP partners, as with Vitable's range: a TGA-listed capsule and a cosmetic serum. More on skincare and cosmetics, or book a call.