Taiwan Proposes to Amend List of Prohibited Ingredients in Cosmetics

By Xunyao Fu, PhD., regulatory affairs lead, Supply Chain team, UL Solutions

The Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan published the draft amendment to the List of Prohibited Ingredients in Cosmetics in the Executive Yuan Gazette on Dec. 13, 2023.

The Cosmetic Hygiene and Safety Act is enacted to maintain the hygiene and safety of cosmetics in order to safeguard national health. Cosmetics are defined as “products applied externally to the human body, teeth, or oral cavity mucous membranes, and used to moisturize hair and skin, stimulate the sense of smell, improve body odors, change appearance, or cleanse the body. However, this is not applicable to those that are regarded as drugs in accordance with other laws or regulations.”

Cosmetics shall not contain mercury, lead, or other ingredients prohibited for use which are announced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Taiwan. However, this ban does not apply to residual traces that are inevitable due to contemporary technical or professional standards and pose no hazard to human health.

The current List of Prohibited Ingredients in Cosmetics contains 650 groups of substances. The usages of two groups of substances (Cells, tissues or products of human origin, and Zirconium and its compounds) were amended by the draft, and 9 new groups of substances (such as Perfluorooctanoic acid and so on) were added to the list.

The draft amendment is open for public comment for 60 days from the date of publication. Any comments or concerns can be sent to the FDA via their email address: joyin@fda.gov.tw.

Recommended action items

• Check if your products contain any regulated substance(s).
• Submit any comments or concerns you might have to Taiwan's FDA.
• Keep an eye out for the publication of the official amendment.

References

Draft to Amend List of Prohibited Ingredients in Cosmetics