ASEAN Bans Five Parabens in Cosmetics

ASEAN Cosmetics Committee made a series of amendments to ASEAN Cosmetics Directory (ACD) during their 21st meeting (see CL news on 20 January 2015), which include the addition of five parabens to Annex II: Part 1 List of substances which must not form part of the composition of cosmetic products.

The five parabens are:

• Isopropylparaben
• Isobutylparaben
• Phenylparaben
• Benzylparaben
• Pentylparaben

Since August 1 2015, products containing any of the above parabens are banned in ASEAN except for Thailand and Philippines where the grace period for existing products in the market is until until 31 Dec 2015 .