Although China has clearly specified the definition of new cosmetic ingredients and released the reference inventory to figure out the status of ingredients-Inventory of Existing Cosmetic Ingredients in China (IECIC), during the actual compliance work, various companies encounter difficulties in correctly determining if an ingredient is a new cosmetic ingredient.

To solve the difficulties in practice, on Jan. 19, 2023, China National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC) released the draft of Technical Guidelines for Determination of New Cosmetic Ingredients.

The draft regulates the principles for the determination, classification and naming of new cosmetic ingredients. All notifiers and registrants of new cosmetic ingredients shall conduct research and safety assessment in accordance with the requirements prescribed.