United Kingdom Introduces New Restrictions on Methyl Salicylate in Cosmetics

Ingredient: METHYL SALICYLATE

Date of publication: 16/01/2025

On January 16, 2025, the United Kingdom notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of an amendment to Annex III of its cosmetics regulation, introducing new restrictions on Methyl Salicylate. The UK's approach slightly differs from the EU Cosmetics Regulation.

What’s New?

On January 16, 2025, the United Kingdom notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of an amendment to Annex III of its cosmetics regulation, introducing new restrictions on Methyl Salicylate. This update follows a March 2024 opinion from the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety (SAG-CS).

The UK’s approach differs from the EU Cosmetics Regulation in the following topics:

Age-based restrictions: The UK imposes specific limits for children aged 6 months to 1 year, while the EU does not currently have age-specific provisions.
Hair product differentiation: The UK sets limits based on spray/aerosol (0.009%) and non-spray/non-aerosol (0.06%) hair products, whereas the EU differentiates between rinse-off and leave-on formulations.
Toothpaste limits: The UK restricts methyl salicylate to 2.5%, slightly lower than the EU’s 2.52%.

Even if the new Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) opinion on children’s exposure to Methyl Salicylate is adopted into EU regulations, these restrictions would still differ slightly from the UK approach.

What now?

Cosmetic products placed on the market on or before 30 September 2025 may be sold until 31 March 2026.

References:

World Trade Organization – Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, G/TBT/N/GBR/97

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