The Poisons Standard (the SUSMP)

26 April 2012

The Poisons Standard is a Legislative Instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. The Poisons Standard consists of decisions regarding the classification of medicines and poisons into Schedules for inclusion in the relevant legislation of the States and Territories. The Poisons Standard also includes model provisions about containers and labels, a list of products recommended to be exempt from these provisions, and recommendations about other controls on drugs and poisons.

The Poisons Standard has been presented with a view to promoting uniform scheduling of substances and uniform labelling and packaging requirements throughout Australia.

The Poisons Standard is the legal title of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP).

The SUSMP

The Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP):

• is a record of decisions regarding the classification of medicines and chemicals into Schedules for inclusion in relevant legislation of the states and territories;
• includes model provisions about containers and labels, and recommendations about other controls on medicines and chemicals; and
• is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments as the Poisons Standard.

SUSMP No.2 is the current edition. This is a consolidation of SUSMP No.1 and its three Amendments. The next consolidation, (SUSMP No.3) will consolidate SUSMP No.2 and its amendments and is expected to be available in July 2012.

Amendments to the SUSMP are released periodically throughout the year. The expected dates for release of future amendments are detailed in the ACMS and ACCS meeting dates table. Amendments to the SUSMP include recent decisions only and must be read in conjunction with the current edition of the SUSMP, rather than as stand-alone documents.

Electronic version of the SUSMP

The SUSMP is available in electronic form, free of charge, on the ComLaw website at the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI). The FRLI is a repository and authoritative source of Commonwealth legislative instruments, explanatory statements and compilations of legislative instruments in electronic form.

Please note that on FRLI the SUSMP goes by its legal title, the Poisons Standard. Additionally, rather than referring to the edition number, the publication will be named according to the year of publication (i.e. the year it is published on FRLI). For example, SUSMP No.2 is known as Poisons Standard 2011 on FRLI. The naming convention used on FRLI and its correlation with the SUSMP is explained in the table below and links to the FRLI versions are also included:

Hardcopy of the SUSMP

SUSMP No. 2 is the current edition and Amendment No. 4, which has an effective date of 1 May 2012, is expected to be available in late April. Together with its four Amendments, SUSMP No.2 is effective up until 31 August 2012.

SUSMP No. 3 (a consolidation of SUSMP No.2 and its four Amendments) is expected to be available for distribution in July 2012.

Hardcopies of the SUSMP and its Amendments are available for purchase from National Mailing & Marketing Pty Ltd (NMM). Payment can be made by telephone, fax or email. Payment in advance is required, either by cheque, money order, credit card or EFT. NMM does not accept purchase orders and invoices will not be issued. Please complete the attached order form and dispatch to NMM as directed. The form will become a TAX INVOICE when fully completed (including the date) and payment is made.

SUSMP No.2 Subscription order form

How to access a pdf or Word document

• SUSMP No.2 Subscription order form (pdf,55kb) 
• SUSMP No.2 Subscription order form (Word,111kb) 

SUSMP No.3 Subscription order form

• SUSMP No.3 Subscription order form (pdf,58kb)
• SUSMP No.3 Subscription order form (Word,112kb)

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