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On Mar. 20, 2019, South Korea released the amended draft of Standards for Natural and Organic Cosmetics [1]. Public consultation will last until April 9, 2019. Any suggestions can be mailed to [email protected].
The main amendments are as follows:
1. The regulation’s name is changed from “Standards for Organic Cosmetics” to “Standards for Natural and Organic Cosmetics”, which means the draft regulation will include the specific standards for natural cosmetics.
2. The definitions of natural ingredients and ingredients derived from natural source are newly added.
Ingredients that can be used in natural and organic cosmetics categories are: 1) natural ingredients 2) ingredients derived from natural source 3) water 4) other permitted ingredients in table 1 (cannot be contaminated by the pollutants in table 2).
Table 1: Other permitted ingredients
| Ingredients | Note |
| Betaine | / |
| Carrageenan | / |
| Lecithin and Lecithin derivatives | / |
| Tocopherol/ Tocotrienol | / |
| Oryzanol | / |
| Annatto | / |
| Carotenoids / Xanthophylls | / |
| Absolutes, Concretes, Resinoids | Only permitted to use in natural cosmetics |
| Lanolin | / |
| Phytosterol | / |
| Glycosphingolipids and Glycolipids | / |
| Xanthan Gum | / |
| Alkyl betaine | / |
Note: The above ingredients can be extracted from natural ingredients using petrochemical solvents, but the solvents shall be completely removed from the final ingredient. Aromatics, alkoxylation, halogenation, nitration or sulfuration (except for DMSO) are not allowed.
Table 2: Pollutants
| 1. Heavy metals 2. Aromatic hydrocarbons 3. Pesticides 4. Dioxins & PCBs 5. Radioactivity 6. GMO 7. Mycotoxins 8. Medicinal residues 9. Nitrates 10. Nitrosamines |
3. The standards of permitted ingredients, manufacturing techniques, manufacturing facilities, packages and composition of ingredients of natural cosmetics are newly added.
4. The proportion calculation method of natural ingredients is newly added and the proportion calculation method of organic ingredients is clarified.
Natural cosmetics refer to cosmetics that contain animal and plant ingredients and their derivative materials, while natural ingredients exceeding 95%. Organic cosmetics refer to cosmetics that contain organic ingredients and ingredients derived from animals and plants. Organic ingredients shall exceed 10% and natural ingredients (including organic ingredients) shall exceed 95%.
5. If enterprises want to claim or advertise their products as natural cosmetics, dossiers to prove the product meet the natural cosmetics’ standards shall be prepared and kept.
6. Compound ingredients that can be used in natural and organic cosmetics are newly added.
Compound ingredients are not permitted to be used in natural and organic cosmetics, except for the ingredients in table 3 and 4 (the proportion shall be lower than 5%):
Permitted compound ingredients
Table 3: Compound preservatives and denaturants
| Ingredients | Note |
| Benzoic Acid and its salts | / |
| Benzyl Alcohol | / |
| Salicylic Acid and its salts | / |
| Sorbic Acid and its salts | / |
| Dehydroacetic Acid and its salts | / |
| Denatonium Benzoate and Tertiary Butyl Alcohol and other denaturing agents for alcohol (excluding phthalates) | Used as a denaturant only in ethanol |
| Isopropylalcohol | / |
| Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate | / |
Table 4: Ingredients containing both natural and petrochemical moiety
| Category | Note |
| Dialkyl Carbonate | / |
| Alkylamidopropylbetaine | / |
| Alkyl Methyl Glucamide | / |
| Alkylamphoacetate / Diacetate | / |
| Alkylglucosidecarboxylate | / |
| Carboxy Methyl - Vegetal polymer | / |
| Vegetal polymer - Hydroxypropyl Trimonium Chloride | Only for hair/beard products |
| Dialkyl Dimonium Chloride | |
| Alkyldimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Vegetal protein |
Note: Petrochemical moiety shall not exceed 2% of the whole ingredient.
7. The scope of permitted ingredients and manufacturing technique for cleaning processes of producing organic cosmetics are expanded.
Transitional measures:
After the Standard comes into effect, cosmetic products which have been certified as natural or organic cosmetics will still be valid. Organic cosmetics labelled according to the previous standard can be distributed and sold until Mar. 14, 2020.
For more detailed analysis, please refer to the webinar presented by Mr. Tiger Kim on April 17, 2019.
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