February 8th 2019 - QLD Heath Department (QHD) contacted the ATG with an expression of interest to participate in a discussion RE: the new Medicines and Poison Legislative scheme and its impacts on tattoo and permanent makeup.
23rd September 2019 - QLD Director of Environmental Hazards Unit sought an expression of interest from the ATG to participate in a working group that will review the Departmental draft standard, Body Art and Cosmetic Tattoo Ink Requirements.
At this time, the Environmental Hazards Unit were in the process of finalising draft standards which were intended to undergo legal review prior to formal public consultation in Feb 2020. The ATG Committee accepted this invitation and informed our Members of the upcoming talks.
1st November 2019 - QHD Presentation - Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 - Body Art and Cosmetic tattoo Ink Requirements standard working group meeting. Outcomes - QHD were receptive to input from attendees and requested more information from the ATG RE: certain pigments listed within the draft. This information was subsequently forwarded to QHD.
8th November 2019 - QHD provided the following input via email;
Queensland Health will review the permitted concentrations of the substances, with particular focus on the colourants. In this regard, the Industry representatives will provide additional information to further inform the review of concentration levels.
QH will monitor the progress of the European Union legislation and ink standards (i.e. ResAP (2008)1), and will conduct a review of any changes when it is available.
QH notes that manufacturers currently analyse their products on an annual basis, instead of each batch. Quality assurance procedures are used to ensure quality of inks.
QH will consider whether the ink safety certification (Inks Safety Forms) process can be done. Eg. via incorporating ink safety certification with invoicing (includes all batch numbers supplied).
A follow up working group meeting will be scheduled for the 2nd week of December.
11th December 2019 - 2nd Roundtable talks - Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 - Body art and Cosmetic tattoo ink requirements standard working group. A modified draft was presented to the group. QHD discussed forthcoming amendments to ResAP(2008)1) and a decision was made by QHD to delay further discussion until the EU amendments were presented to the EU Council in March 2020.- note - ResAP amendments were delayed until Dec 2020 due to the Covid19 Pandemic
2nd March 2021 - ATG received notice from Environmental Hazards Department QHD that the department were moving to finalise a draft which adopted (EC) No 1907/2006 and amending Annex XVII of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).
3rd - 25th March 2021 - ATG consults industry participants, both nationally and internationally, and Australian suppliers. Liaises with key Members of the USA/EU movement to review the EC amendment.
29th March 2021 - ATG received Stakeholder alert Economics Governance Committee - call for submissions and inquiry process - Debt Reduction and savings BILL 2019.
31st March 2021 - ATG formally responds to QHD outlining the concerns of industry RE: the adoption of amending Annex XVII.
30th March 2021 - 1st April - ATG contacts Economic and Governance Committee QLD / Treasury Department / Environmental Hazards Department QHD seeking clarification and consultation on proposed amendments to the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 within the Debt Reduction and Savings Bill 2021.
5th April 2021 - Between 5th April and 18th May ATG Committee Members and Consultants liaised with Michael Dirks, Ink Manufacturer, founder of the “Save the Pigments’ International Campaign and Committee Member of the Society for Pigment Safety based in the EU. Michael made substantial and valuable contributions to the campaign of the ATG.
Between 31st March and 16th April the ATG undertook extensive Member and industry consultation in order to inform our submission to the Inquiry.
19th April 2021 - the ATG formally presented its submission to the Economics and Governance Committee into the Debt Reduction and Savings Bill 2021. The submission can be viewed below.
27th April 2021 - ATG Committee Members along with other Stakeholders attended an online hearing to provide testimony to the Economics and Governance Committee as a part of the Committees' inquiry into the proposed amendments to the Debt Reduction and savings Bill 2021. This meeting was attended by ATG Committee Members, Josh Roelink President ATG, Tashi Edwards Vice President ATG and consultant Mick Hayes Protat tattoo supplies.
8th May 2021 - the ATG posted the “Save the Inks” petition on change.org. The purpose of the petition was to raise community and government awareness around the very real issues that existed within the QLD Government's proposed compliance amendments to the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 48a. The ATG invited the Professional Tattooing Association of Australia (PTAA) to collaborate with them on the petition. At the time of writing, the petition has over 45k signatures which were gained in under three weeks. Due to the community support of the petition and the broader campaign being undertaken by the ATG, the petition drew the attention of the media which assisted in getting the issues out to the public and the Government.
Between 13th - 19th May 2021 - ATG Members and Committee Members participated in over 15 media interviews for radio, television and online print publications regarding the issues.
Between the 13th May - 19th May 2021 - the ATG actively campaigned all standing Members of the QLD Parliament. Numbers of ATG Members also contacted and facilitated dialogue with MP’s within QLD.
20th May 2021 - ATG Committee members, Matthew Cunnington (QLD State Representative) and Tashi Edwards (Vice President ATG) participated in a scheduled phone conference with policy makers from the QLD Minister for Health's office. During this call, Committee Members were advised that due to the concerns raised by the ATG - as were outlined within the ATG submission to the Debt Reduction and Savings Bill 2021 and campaign material received by the Ministers office, (which outlined an admittance from the department that no consultation had occurred with overseas manufacturers) the provisions to the Bill would be removed at this time.
20th May 2021 - The QLD Minister for Health, Yvette D'Ath MP, announced a pause in the proposed changes to tattoo ink legislation while consultation with industry was undertaken.
22nd May 2021 - The ATG sought clarification in writing from the department regarding the status of the public consultation into the draft ink standard, which was being conducted by the QLD Department of Health.
A written response from the department was received on the 24th May in which they stated that the departmental standard on tattoo inks will not be implemented at this stage due to the proposed tattoo ink compliance provisions not being progressed at this stage.
The ATG continue to monitor the situation and shall update this page accordingly.
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