Right now, the assessment and reassessment of hazardous substances in New Zealand is very time consuming and very resource intensive. As a consequence, since 2001, the EPA has only been able to complete 54 reassessments, and, in addition to that, there are outstanding 43 chemicals in urgent need of reassessment. These lengthy and costly processes mean that it takes time for beneficial chemicals, including safer alternatives to existing ones, to be approved for use. Delayed reassessments may also mean that chemicals continue to be used when their safety and environmental controls may no longer be fit for purpose. For these reasons, amendments to the HSNO Act are needed to improve the process for assessing and reassessing hazardous substances and to enable the EPA to make better use of relevant information from international regulators. The amendments include changes to enable better use of information from comparable international regulations and make other improvements to the reassessment process.