Industry calls on the Indian govt. to end confusion over cosmetic regulation

The India Ministry of Health and Welfare updated the registration for the import of cosmetics ranging from skin to hair care products on April 1st 2013, which became mandatory in India after being postponed from its original deadline of October 1^st​, 2012 under Rule 21 of Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945.

According to Sanjay Trivedi, director of Indian Home & Personal Care Industry Association, the issue lies with inconsistent registration controls imposed by state government food and drugs administrations for personal care product retailers selling imported products, which is ultimately leading to the confusion within the cosmetics industry.

“We have taken up the matter with the Government that irrational demand and restrictive practices are not in the interest of consumers​.”

The director goes on to explain that the process of marketing foreign products is already very elaborate and cumbersome and that foreign companies without a track record are finding it difficult to enter the markets in India.

However, in the instance of a brand already being registered in UK for example, Trivedi says it can manage to get registration without too much hassle.

New legislation comes with risk of fines and product confiscation​​

This campaign comes just months after the country's Health Ministry issued new legislation as aforementioned for cosmetics companies back in April where the authorities stated that after April the implementation of the regulation meant all imported cosmetics products have to be registered or risk facing fines and the possibility of being withdrawn from store shelves, confiscation and possible jail terms for violators.

The registration refers to all groups of cosmetics, including color cosmetics, oral care, soaps, hair care, skin care and fragrance products.

Known as Gazette Notification 426E, the measure was first announced in May 2010, when it was announced that all imported cosmetics would have to register before entering the country as a means of regulating the product entry into the country.

The regulation requires that any cosmetics company or distributor importing products into the country must fill out and complete form 42, which has to be accompanied by a few of $250 for each individual brand registered, together with a treasury challan.

Those individual brands can be manufactured outside of India at either one or several production sites, providing they operate conjointly as a single manufacturing operation.