China Notifies the Draft Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulations to the WTO

On Dec. 18, 2018, China submitted a notification (G/TBT/N/CHN/1310) to the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee of WTO proposing to overhaul the outdated overarching cosmetic regulation—Hygiene Supervision of Cosmetics Regulation 1989.

According to the notification, the new legislation, titled Cosmetics Supervision and Administration Regulation (Draft), stipulates the manufacture, registration, operation and supervision of cosmetic raw materials and finished products in China, which is essentially the same as what was released in August this year. The effective date of the notified content is not specified but deadline for trading partners’ comments is February 16, 2019.

Chronology of the revision

In the second half of 2013, CFDA (now SAMR) initiated a program to reform Hygiene Supervision of Cosmetics Regulation 1989 aiming to further standardize cosmetic production and operation as well as reinforce cosmetic supervision and administration.

On Nov. 8, 2014, CFDA started to solicit public opinion on the revised version, which was renamed Regulations concerning the Supervision and Administration over Cosmetics.

On July 20^th, 2015, the Legislative Affairs Office of China State Council promulgated a written draft of Regulation concerning Supervision and Administration over Cosmetics for public consultation. The period of public comments ended on August 20th, 2015.

In 2018, a new draft (Second Written Draft for Comments) that made subtle refinements to the 2015 draft has been worked out for a new round of public consultation.

TBT Committee

It refers to a unique multilateral forum aiming to create a predictable trading environment and facilitate trade via WTO members’ discussion of regulations, standards, testing and certification procedures affecting trade. Notifications from member countries are one of the main mechanisms guiding its work.