China Cosmetic Regulatory Changes and Industry Trends –CICC 2014

The China International Cosmetics Convention 2014 held in Shenzheng has successfully concluded last week. The convention was attended by international government officials, industry representatives and experts and provided an open floor for industry communications and discussions on cosmetics regulations, techniques and standards. 

With respect to regulatory changes and industry trend, Director of the Cosmetics Supervision Department of Guangdong FDA Xie Zhijie shared his view with us. He remarked that the market “invisible hand” has played an important role in the amendment of cosmetics supervision laws in China. The rationale behind the adjustment is to focus more on rectification rather than supervision. He also revealed that starting from January 1, 2015, domestic non-special-use cosmetics products without documentation and supporting record filing with the FDA will be considered illegal. Director of Institute for Food and cosmetic Control, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control Zhang QingSheng further stressed the importance and urgency of rectification through problems found in cosmetics products during recent inspections. Several cosmetics regulatory revisions are expected to be carried out in the end of this year or at the beginning of 2015. Some of them are:

1. Record filing of imported non-special use cosmetics will be delegate to the local FDA according to the State Council.
2. The public consultation of cosmetic labeling supervision is expected to be finished by the end of 2014.
3. The new ingredients approval method which has already undergone public consultation at the beginning of this year will come into effect soon. Under the new method, the CFDA will no longer make the announcement of approval of cosmetics new ingredients, instead, a “cosmetics new ingredients trial use”document will be issued to the applicants and will be effective up to four years.

International experts also introduced the management and supervision methodologies in developed countries. The Executive Vice President of Personal Care Products Council Francine Lamoriello introduced the principles and actions taken over the past years to promote a global harmonization of cosmetics regulation.

In a nutshell, standardized manufacture, advanced technology and product safety are the main forces propelling the development of cosmetics in China and rest of the world.