China's First Clean Beauty Standard Released

On July 10, 2022, the Guangdong Cosmetics Association released a new group standard, "T/GDCA 011-2022 Cosmetics—General Principle of Clean Beauty", which specifies clean beauty’s terms and definitions, basic principles, design, production, packaging, storage, use, recycling, and other requirements. ¹ This is the first standard specifically for clean beauty in China's cosmetics industry and will be implemented on August 8, 2022.

It is worth noting that group standards refer to a series of voluntary standards established and/or adopted by professional associations or bodies, often prior to the formulation of relevant national standards and industrial norms.

Highlights of the Standard

1. The Standard provides a clear definition of "clean beauty" for the first time. Clean beauty refers to cosmetics that are safe and friendly to the environment and animals, with an open, transparent, and traceable life cycle.

2. The Standard stipulates the production quality requirements of clean beauty, requiring that no substances with potential risks should be used; no harmful substances should be brought into cosmetics during production; the formula ingredients should be open and transparent; and the packaging materials should meet the requirements of recyclability and biodegradation.

Specific Requirements for Ingredients

The ingredients should meet the requirements in the Inventory of Existing Cosmetic Ingredients in China. The use of green, organic, synthetic biology and carbon-negative ingredients is advocated.

The following ingredients are prohibited in clean beauty products:

Banned components in the Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics;
Banned components in EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (2021 Edition);
Banned components in the IFRA Standards- 49th Amendments published by China Association of Fragrance Flavour and Cosmetic Industries;
Components in the List of Carcinogens published by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (2017 Edition);
Components in the Catalogue of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Drugs (2013 Edition);
Genetically modified or nano components that have not passed the safety performance evaluation;
Components of animal origin;
Components having evidence that may cause cancer in the human body, may cause the user's mental addiction, may trigger hormonal disorders, may irritate the skin, may pollute the environment, etc.

Specific Requirements for Formula

The efficacy evaluation of the formulation should meet the following requirements:

Efficacy tests are done in ways or methods that meet the requirements of laws and regulations.
Efficacy evaluation data should be open, transparent, and authentic. The efficacy test reports should be made public at the time of sale.

The safety assessment of the formulation should meet the following requirements:

When doing testing, priority should be given to alternative methods to animal testing.
It is forbidden to repeat animal tests in order to meet the requirements of laws and regulations.
The safety information of finished products shall be open and transparent.

Specific Requirements for Packing Materials

The selection of packaging materials should be recyclable and biodegradable, and meet the following criteria:

The packaging materials in direct contact with cosmetics shall be safe, shall not have chemical reactions with cosmetics, and shall not transfer or release toxic or harmful substances that may harm the human body.
The packaging materials not in direct contact with cosmetics should avoid excessive packaging and shall not transfer or release toxic or harmful substances that may harm the human body.
Outdated inks should not be used in the printing materials of packaging materials (such as benzene-containing ink, ketone-containing ink, fluorescent agent-containing ink, etc.).
The packaging materials should have a proper size or make a reminder to avoid accidental ingestion by children.

3. The Standard also stipulates the basic principles of clean beauty, requiring clean beauty to carry out risk control over the life cycle of cosmetics, including the stages of product design, production, packaging, storage and transportation, use, recycling, etc.

Implications for the Industry

“Clean Beauty” is a niche skincare trend that first emerged in Europe and the United States. With the rising awareness of health, environmental protection, and sustainable development, and the increase of people with allergic skin, consumers' demand for natural and safe cosmetics is growing, and clean beauty has gradually become one of the mainstream skin care concepts in the current global beauty market. In China, the clean beauty category is also gaining momentum.

However, due to the lack of a unified standard for clean beauty, it is difficult for consumers to understand and identify such products, and the cost of brand promotion and market education is high, which has caused great counter-acting force to the development of clean beauty cosmetics in China.

The release of the group standard "T/GDCA 011-2022 Cosmetics—General Principle of Clean Beauty" fills the gap of industry standards for clean beauty, unifies the industry and the market's cognition of the clean beauty category, and standardizes its technical requirements for production, which will help reduce brand marketing and publicity chaos, improve the quality of cosmetics, and ultimately promote the sound development of the market.