[Updated] UK Revises the Lists of Restricted Ingredients and Permitted UV Filters

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on July 20, 2023, and was updated on July 21, 2023, as per the latest developments.

On July 6, 2023, UK published a regulation to amend the lists of restricted ingredients and permitted UV filters, based on the opinions from the Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety of Non-Food and Non-Medicinal Consumer Products (SAG-CS).¹ On July 20, 2023, UK repealed this regulation and replaced it with a new version, called The Cosmetic Products (Restriction of Chemical Substances) (No. 2) Regulations 2023.²

Compared to the regulation introduced on July 6, the revisions adopted in the newly released one are marked in red in the following article. 

1. List of Restricted Ingredients: one added

Cosmetic products supplied in or into Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) are subject to the UK Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 (Cosmetics Regulation). Currently, Methyl-N-methylanthranilate is not regulated under the UK Cosmetics Regulation. As various toxicological studies have indicated its potential phototoxic effects, SAG-CS conducted an assessment on it, and released an opinion on the safety of its usage in cosmetics. In view of SAG-CS's opinion, UK has included Methyl-N-methylanthranilate into the list of restricted ingredients with use constraints. These restrictions will come into force on July 6, 2024.

2. List of Permitted UV Filters: two added

In September 2022, SAG-CS published a scientific opinion on HAA299 and HAA299 (nano), concluding that their use as UV-filters in cosmetics would pose potential risk to human health when their concentration exceeded a certain level. Based on this opinion, UK established the use requirements for them in the list of permitted UV filters, which will take effect on August 9, 2023. 

Further Reading

• News | UK to Revise the Ingredient Lists in Cosmetic Regulations: Skin Whitening Agent Deoxyarbutin and 38 CMRs Banned

• Webinar | Brexit Impact: Ensuring Your Cosmetics are Compliant in the UK