Background
On April 10, 2024, the United Kingdom notified the WTO of a draft regulation amending the UK Cosmetics Regulation. This draft is titled “The Cosmetic Products (Restriction of Chemical Substances) (No. 2) Regulations 2024”, and the legislator aims to publish it on June 25, 2024.
The regulation will apply to England, Wales, and Scotland.
The proposed amendments include the addition of 52 prohibited ingredients and 1 restricted ingredient. Nevertheless, the draft stipulates that cosmetic products placed on the market on or before April 20, 2025, can continue to be made available on the market until August 20, 2025.
What’s new?
According to the draft regulation, Kojic Acid will be added to Annex III of the UK Cosmetics Regulation, which lists restricted substances. The use of Kojic Acid will be permitted at a maximum concentration of 1% in face and hand products. These restrictions will apply from April 20, 2025, for products being placed on the UK market, and from August 20, 2025, for products already available.
Similarly, the EU has recently implemented the same restrictions on Kojic Acid, effective from February 1, 2025, for new products, and November 1, 2025, for existing products on the market.
The draft regulation also bans 52 substances classified as Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic (CMR) under the GB CLP Regulation. The complete list is available here. The European Union has already prohibited the use of all these substances through Omnibus Act V and Omnibus Act VI. However, some chemicals banned by the EU are not classified as CMR under the GB CLP Regulation. These substances used in cosmetics are:
- Pentasodium Pentetate
- Pentetic Acid
- Pentapotassium Salt
Therefore, these substances can continue to be legally used in cosmetic products for the UK market. As a result, there will be some differences between the EU and UK Cosmetics Regulations.
The compliance deadlines are the same as those for the restrictions on Kojic Acid.
