Understanding Asia’s different regulations...
There are different specific regulatory systems for each country in Asia which can create confusion, but they all have a common goal of ensuring that cosmetic products are safe and properly labeled.
Whilst the definition of a cosmetic product is generally well-known; confusion can be caused as certain cosmetics products are classified as cosmetics in some countries whereas they may be regulated as over-the-counter drugs in other countries or quasi-drugs (as in Japan).
Therefore, it is of major importance for all raw material suppliers, cosmetics products manufacturers, marketing companies and traders to understand the cosmetics regulatory differences among the major economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Let’s take a brief look at Japan, South Korea, China, India, the ASEAN countries, and Australia.