Administrative Measures for Cosmetic Labels' is released: all ingredients must be marked on the label!

On June 3, the State Drug Administration issued an announcement, promulgating the "Measures for the Administration of Cosmetic Labels" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"). The announcement made it clear that starting from May 1, 2022, for cosmetics that apply for registration or filing, the product label must comply with the provisions and requirements of the Measures. If the cosmetics previously applied for registration or filing have not been labelled in accordance with the "Measures", the cosmetics registrant and filing person must complete the update of the product label before May 1, 2023. The "Measures" will come into effect on May 1, 2022.

Cosmetic labeling is the most direct way for consumers to obtain basic product information and safe use. According to the legislative thinking determined by the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), the "Measures" integrate existing label management regulations, documents and technical standards, and clarify the requirements for cosmetics label management.

There are 23 articles in the "Measures", expounding the purpose and scope of application of the legislation, defining cosmetic labels, clarifying the main responsibilities of cosmetic registrants and filing parties for the use of cosmetic labels, and the principle requirements for the content and form of cosmetic labels. It specifies the content that should be marked on cosmetics labels and the specific requirements for marking each content, and refines the prohibited content of cosmetics. Adhering to the legislative thinking of the "Regulations", it makes specific provisions on label defects and clarifies the application of relevant laws and regulations.

The "Measures" clearly defines the definition of cosmetics labels. Cosmetic labels refer to the words, symbols, numbers, patterns and other marks on the product sales package used to identify the basic product information, attribute characteristics and safety warnings, as well as the packaging containers, packaging boxes and instructions with identification information. In other words, the cosmetics label contains two parts, one is the content of various identifications on the product sales package, and the other is the carrier with product information such as outer packaging and instructions.

Regarding the labeling of “other trace ingredients” that has attracted much attention from the industry, the Measures stipulate that if there are ingredients with a content of no more than 0.1% (w/w) in cosmetic formulations, all ingredients with a content of no more than 0.1% (w/w) shall be Use "other trace components" as a guide to introduce a separate label, which may not be listed in descending order of component content. The reporter learned that this move is to get rid of the "conceptual addition" industry ailment and protect consumers' right to know. Some products claim to contain some functional raw materials, but in fact the added amount is very low and can't work at all. Clarifying the labeling requirements of micro-ingredients can prevent false marketing from harming consumers' legitimate rights and interests. However, it should be noted that although some active ingredients are added in an amount of less than 0.1%, they can still achieve the effect. They are marked as "micro ingredients", not to determine the effect of the ingredients, but to let consumers know the real addition of the raw materials. .

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, the "Measures" standardizes the management of imported cosmetics labels, requiring that “if Chinese labels are affixed, the content related to product safety and efficacy claims in the Chinese labels should be consistent with the content of the original labels” to ensure that domestic and foreign products are in good condition. The label claims are fair and consistent, and at the same time facilitates further strengthening of label supervision.

The "Measures" reiterated and refined the contents prohibited by existing regulations, and prohibited 12 ways of labeling or claiming. Including the use of medical terms, the names of medical celebrities, words describing medical effects and effects, or the names of approved drugs that express or imply that the product has medical effects; the use of false, exaggerated, and absolute words to make false or misleading descriptions, etc.