What about melt-and-pour soap? Do I need to register with AICIS?

A. No, you don’t have to register if you bought the ingredients from an Australian supplier, because the supplier has already registered with us. For most soap bases, the chemical reaction already happened. If you’re just melting a soap base and adding ingredients bought from an Australian supplier, then you don’t need to register.

However, if you are importing or manufacturing any ingredients used in the process you need to register — even if they are being used in a mixing or blending process. You also need to check that all ingredients are on the Inventory.

Examples:

• If you are making essential oils using steam distillation, you need to register.
• If you are importing essential oils you need to register.
• If you are importing the soap bases, you need to register because soap base includes chemicals.
• If you are importing glycerine, you need to register because it is considered an industrial chemical. It is listed in our Inventory, so you can import it (within the conditions) and you must be registered.