SFDA publishes the 3rd and final batch of cosmetics ingredients

According to CIRS, an independent firm that provides hazardous substance testing and regulatory consulting services, on contacting the SFDA, the administration confirmed that this will be the final batch of IECIC published for consultation.

There are a total of 1356 ingredients in this batch to which comments are required by the 30th September 2012. The difference between the updated list and that of 2003 is as follows:

Guidelines​

In China, foreign manufacturers are required to register cosmetics before products are allowed onto the market, the government body must also determine whether there is a new, prohibited or restricted ingredient being registered.

As outlined by hygiene supervision over cosmetics (1990), the use of new ingredients for cosmetics production must be approved first. The rules for the application of administrative licenses for cosmetics (2009) have also clearly indicated that the use of new ingredient in cosmetics in China must be licensed.

CIRS representitive April Guo tells CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com that an ingredient will be regarded as ‘used’ if it is included in the IECIC in China (2003 or 2012) and is not a banned substance; has been used in a licensed special use cosmetic product; or is part of a plant that has been approved as cosmetic ingredient.

A change in the regulation process​

Until recently, the SFDA relied on the Inventory of Existing Cosmetic Ingredients in China (IECIC 2003), an internally circulated list of cosmetics ingredients, in determining whether an ingredient is new, which according to CIRS caused trouble within the industry.

So, in an effort to strengthen the safety management of cosmetic ingredients and in making determination criteria more transparent, the administration announced it was approving new cosmetic ingredients for the first time since 2008 back in April of this year and has thereafter published two lists containing 1,674 and 637 substances for consultation in recent months.  

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