Among the complementary regulations to the new CSAR (Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation), the one on the management of new ingredients was particularly awaited. On 28 August 2020, the Chinese authorities published the “Instructions for New Cosmetic Ingredient Registration and Notification Dossiers”. A text that will fundamentally change the procedures, and considerably simplify things. ChemLinked experts detail the changes and novelties it details.
For an ingredient to be used in cosmetic products in China, it must be listed in the IECIC (Inventory of Existing Cosmetic Ingredients in China), which includes more than 800 ingredients. All others are considered new ingredients and must be registered with the NMPA (National Medicinal Products Administration), whose conditions are so strict that it has become almost impossible.
As proof, from 2004 to today, only 10 new ingredients have been approved (such as Methylisothiazolinone in 2007, Fructooligosaccharides in 2008 or Hhenethyl resorcinol in 2012…), and none since 2014.
But all this is soon to be a thing of the past. When the new CSAR Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation comes into force on 1 January 2021, the procedures will be quite different.
The new deal
The text gives the definition of a new ingredient: it is a natural or artificial ingredient used in a cosmetic product for the first time on the territory of the People’s Republic of China.
From now on, these ingredients will be divided into two categories:
• High-risk ingredients (preservatives, UV filters, colorants, hair dyes, stain repellents and whiteners), which still have to go through a full registration process to be approved by the NMPA, …
