Regulatory Review--United States Update

By: David C. Steinberg, Steinberg & Associates

Posted: February 2, 2006, from the February 2006 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries.

California’s Safe Cosmetic Act Well, he did it. In October Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the California Safe Cosmetic Act of 2005. As reported in my last column, this new law will not make cosmetics safer than they are now, but will increase costs for cosmetic companies and the taxpayers of the State of California while accomplishing absolutely nothing. The new law addresses two alleged cosmetic ingredient safety issues. The first is risks from cancer or reproductive toxicity. The second is risks from inadequate safety substantiation or an “unsafe” determination by the industry’s Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) panel or risks from inadequately labeled products containing ingredients whose safety has not been determined by the CIR panel.

First, consider who is exempt.  If your company's total annual sales of cosmetics worldwide is less than US$1 million, you are exempt.  If you manufacture only OTC cosmetic drugs, you are exempt because this law covers only cosmetics.  Everyone else has to comply with this law.

This is only an excerpt of the full article that appeared in Cosmetics & Toiletries, but you can purchase the full-text version.