Who must comply with Stockholm + Rotterdam Convention chemicals (POPs ban)?

Persistent organic pollutants (PCBs, PFAS, etc.) banned / restricted under federal Acts.

Australia ratified the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals in trade in 2004. POPs, such as DDT, PCBs and some PFAS, persist in the environment and build up in food chains; Australia restricts the import, manufacture, use and export of the 12 POPs listed at ratification, and most later-listed POPs are also restricted, with many to be administered through the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS). Under the Rotterdam Convention's Prior Informed Consent procedure, Annex III chemicals may not be exported without the importing country's consent, and exports of chemicals severely restricted or banned in Australia need an export notification. Obligations are administered by AICIS for industrial chemicals, the APVMA for pesticides and the Australian Border Force at the border, with state and territory governments also helping to manage POPs. Where both conventions apply, the stricter Stockholm controls prevail.

Applies only if you import or manufacture industrial chemicals. Whether it applies turns on a fact that no industry, structure or size settles on its own.

How the regulator frames it: Businesses that import, manufacture, use, export or dispose of POPs or Annex III chemicals, whether as industrial chemicals (AICIS) or pesticides and veterinary chemicals (APVMA); exporters of chemicals severely restricted or banned in Australia; and businesses exporting, importing or transiting hazardous waste containing them.

What triggers it: Introducing, using or exporting a listed POP, importing or exporting a Rotterdam Annex III chemical, exporting a chemical severely restricted or banned in Australia, or moving hazardous waste across Australia's border.

Jurisdiction: Commonwealth law, so the test is the same in every state and territory.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (1 of 35: only if a further fact applies; 34 of 35: no).

Structure does not change the answer in manufacturing: for every structure the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Size does not change the answer in manufacturing: at every size band the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire.
• Pty Ltd company in manufacturing with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: check whether it applies. applies only if you import or manufacture industrial chemicals.

The engine shows this obligation as "check whether this applies" when a business has industry: Manufacturing. It then applies only if you import or manufacture industrial chemicals. That fact is not something Rules Mate can infer from industry, structure or size.

When due

Before the import, manufacture, use or export: confirm the chemical's status with AICIS or the APVMA, obtain any required consent or lodge any export notification, and hold a hazardous waste permit before the waste is exported, imported or transited.

Frequency

Ongoing

Evidence to keep

Chemical identity and status checks against the Stockholm and Rotterdam lists and the IChEMS Register; AICIS or APVMA authorisations; importing-country consent or export notifications for Annex III and banned or severely restricted chemicals; hazardous waste permits with proof of ownership and control of the waste, packaging and transport arrangements, and evidence that the receiving facility is authorised.

Status

Current

Priority

Critical

Maximum penalty: Breaches are enforced under the laws that implement the conventions, including the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019, agricultural and veterinary chemicals laws, customs prohibited-goods controls and the Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989; hazardous waste cannot lawfully cross the border without a permit.

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

If this obligation applies to you, so does this one: the engine uses the same rule for each.

• Register + categorise industrial chemicals (Industrial Chemicals Act 2019)

Rules Mate tracks 2 published obligations tagged "chemicals", 1 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 0 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated critical priority and carries criminal liability, and is an ongoing duty.

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• Compliance calendar builder