CIRS advises industry to check final version of IECIC

By Michelle Yeomans

- Last updated on GMT

CIRS advises industry to check final version of IECIC

Related tags New cosmetic ingredients Cosmetics

China’s FDA has published a final version of Inventory of Existing Cosmetic Ingredient in China (IECIC 2014), listing some 8783 ingredients.

With this announcement, the 'Chemical Inspection & Regulation Service' is encouraging the cosmetics industry to check the inventory immediately to make sure your products can be legally used in China.

The English version of this list of ingredients can be downloaded here​.

The first draft of IECIC was issued on 24 January, followed by the second in May where the China Food and Drug Administration invited public comments on a list of 8203 ingredients.

Today's final version features the following documents as main references: 

  • IECIC 2003;
  • 3 draft versions of IECIC 2012;
  • Hygienic Standard for Cosmetics (2007)
  • Approved new cosmetic ingredients;
  • Ingredients used in approved domestic non special use cosmetics.

Previously, cosmetic ingredients were granted presence on the market providing that they have already been used in China and the safety of those ingredients have been assessed. 

The criteria for determining if a cosmetic ingredient is new would be simplified when the final version of IECIC (2014) is available. The comparison between old and new criteria can be found in the table below:

Old criteria

New criteria/ changes

  • IECIC 2003/2012;
  • Whether the ingredients have been used in registered special-use cosmetics and the use level is lower than the approval level;
  • Whether the ingredients are subject to the part of full plant which can be used in cosmetics;

  • Final version of IECIC (2014)
  • Deleted the column Maximum Level of Use in Products Already Approved
  • Addition of approved new cosmetic ingredients;
  • Addition of ingredients used as preservatives, hair dyes, sun-screening agents and colorants

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