The first mandatory national standard for cosmetics has been released, with significantly tightened safety requirements for children's cosmetics.
The National Medical Products Administration released the first mandatory national standard for cosmetics, General Safety Requirements for Cosmetics, on 8 month 6 day, replacing the Hygienic Standard for Cosmetics that has been in use since 1987 year, marking a comprehensive upgrade of China's cosmetics regulation from "hygiene" to "safety." The new national standard sets safety requirements for the entire chain of raw materials and products, implementing stricter controls especially for children's cosmetics: the limit on total bacterial count for cosmetics for children aged 12 years and below is 10 times stricter than that for general cosmetics, and it offers broader protection and stricter requirements than the international ISO standards. In terms of heavy metal control, the new standard specifically stipulates limit values for 8 types of harmful substances, filling the gap in international standards that only provide testing methods without specific limits, with some indicators achieving international leadership. The new standard will officially come into effect on 2028 year 1 month 1 day, and cosmetics produced or imported before this date may continue to be sold until the end of their shelf life. Industry analysts believe that the new national standard will reshape safety standards in the cosmetics industry, with significantly tightened regulation of children's cosmetics; while enterprise research and development and production costs may rise, it will be beneficial in the long term for high-quality industry development and consumer safety assurance.