According to FDA regulations, if a product is intended to be applied to a person’s body to make the person more attractive, it’s a cosmetic under the law, for instance perfumes, colognes and aftershave should all be regulated as cosmetics. However, some products add fragrances for therapeutic purposes, such as aromatherapy products that could relieve muscle pain or headaches, and fragrance products that help sleep. These kind of fragrance products are generally regulated as pharmaceuticals. Other products that may contain fragrance ingredients, but are not applied to the body, including detergent, fabric softener and carpet freshenerare, are under the administration of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The EU has introduced a crucial amendment to its Cosmetic Regulation that focuses on the labeling of fragrance allergens in cosmetic products. Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545, which was introduced on July 26, 2023, amends Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. This article helps to provide a concise overview of the key points within this regulatory update.

Since China's overarching cosmetic regulation – Cosmetics Supervision and Administration Regulations (CSAR) – came into force on January 1, 2021, the authorities have been paying close attention to regulatory compliance and punishing enterprises for non-compliance. This article focuses on four of the main categories of non-compliance and provides case studies for each.

There is a diverse range of cosmetic packaging materials, such as glass, metal, plastic, and soft paper packaging. As the last process in the modern cosmetics industry, packaging is necessary to keep the contents clean and safe. However, it is also important to make sure the packaging itself does not pollute the cosmetics or add any unsafe factors to the contents. In addition, consumers’ understanding and judgment of cosmetics products often relies on the information provided on the products and by the sellers, the display of such information, to a large extent, determines consumers’ purchasing decisions and use methods for products.

On September 15, 2022, the European Commission issued G/TBT/N/EU/924 notification to amend Regulation 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council on the labeling of fragrance allergens in cosmetics, for the protection of human health or safety.

There are many regulations relating to cosmetic labeling in China. In this article, we will provide some details of what cannot be contained on the labels and some examples of improper labeling.

After the implementation of a bunch of cosmetic regulations in China, NMPA has gradually strengthened its efforts to rectify the cosmetics industry. Many cosmetics companies have been fined for their inappropriate efficacy claims, with the total amount even up to 400,000 yuan. CIRS Personal and Home Care Products Division has summarized the cases of improper claims in recent years and sorted out illegal claims for enterprises’ reference.

On May 31, 2021, NMPA issued the notice on Measures for Administration of Cosmetics Labeling (No.77, 2021), encouraging cosmetics registrants and filers to label cosmetics in accordance with the provisions of the Measures from the date of this announcement. From May 1, 2022, cosmetics applying for registration or filing must meet the provisions and requirements of the Measures; Where cosmetics that have previously applied for registration or been filed fail to be labeled and marked in accordance with the Measures, the cosmetics registrants and filers must complete the updates to product labels before May 1, 2023 to make them conform to the provisions and requirements of the Measures.