Changes Coming to Chinese Cosmetics Regulatory Regime

According to ChemLinked reporter, Angelita Hu, China is making an effort to develop regulatory protocols and standards which match the technical and supervisory capacity of the cosmetic industry, by revising the 2007 Hygienic Standard for Cosmetics. To date the proposed revisions are seen as the most significant progress made in amending the standard since the release of the revised body of the 2007 Hygienic Standard (renamed Cosmetic Technical Safety Standard) in 30 Nov 2012. For past year it has been reported that the Chinese FDA has coordinated with the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC) in a further revision of this draft. Following over a year of detailed revision work, the NIFDC is now soliciting opinions from the public on the new draft of the Technical Safety Standard for Cosmetics. The public comment period ends February 28, 2015.

The basic revision work for the NIFDC are the adjustment of the regulatory framework (the new draft is divided into two parts: body and appendixes), the standardization of contents and wordings and the correction of some errors, such as typing errors, wrong CAS numbers, etc.. The most significant changes to the new draft are that the NIFDC added testing methods of 50 prohibited/restricted substances, improved partial testing and revisions to the animal testing requirements.

For many companies that have opted to stay out of the Chinese cosmetics market due to the animal testing requirements, this is welcomed news.  It is also a sign that pressures from outside environmental groups is having an impact.  This next year should be an exciting time as we see more consistency in regulatory standards in the global market.