There has not been a lot of federal oversight of the cosmetic industry. Recently, the Modernization of Cosmetic Regulations Act was signed into law in 2022 to update the antiquated regulations in an attempt to promote more cosmetic safety. This act now requires adverse reporting, company and ingredient registration, public disclosure of salon product ingredients and fragrances, and disclosure of flavor and fragrance ingredients to the FDA. The law also gives the FDA authority to issue product recalls. Other countries, states, and local municipalities have their own rules that cosmetic manufacturers must abide by.
International Regulations
Canada and the EU have stringent regulations for personal care products and cosmetics. For Canada, the Foods and Drugs Act, as well as the Cosmetics Regulation, requires cosmetics manufacturers to provide full ingredient disclosure and notification to Health Canada if they are selling a cosmetic product. The country also has labeling requirements and a cosmetics ingredient hotlist of prohibited chemicals and contaminants.
The EU has the strongest regulations for the cosmetics industry. The EU Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 bans 1693 chemicals (3-Amino-2,4- dichlorophenol and its salts) from cosmetics and restricts maximum concentrations of 324 chemicals (tranylcypromine and its salts). EU laws also require pre-market safety assessments, mandatory product registration, and other standards.
State and Local Regulations
California, Washington, and Minnesota have
enacted regulations that govern cosmetic products. In Minnesota, the chemical formaldehyde is banned from all children's personal care products. Washington has enacted the Children's Safe Product Act to require companies to report any product that has chemicals of high concern to children.
California has the most regulations compared to other states. The Safe Cosmetics Act, Professional Cosmetics Labeling Requirements Act, the CA Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, and the CA Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredients Right to Know Act are designed to ban dangerous chemicals, require ingredients labels, require full disclosure of products containing Proposition 56 chemicals, and require disclosure of secret ingredients for fragrances.
Honest Advertising
Labeling and branding standards are important factors in most regulations introduced by the United States, Canada, EU, and state organizations. While the FDA does not have standards to prevent companies from using terms like "organic" or "natural," it is advisable to refrain from placing such terms in ingredient listings. Otherwise, most honest advertising rules for cosmetics fall under the misleading container presentation, fill, and misbranded sections of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.