Cosmetic Regulations
The sale of cosmetics in Australia is regulated by a number of government agencies. It is the responsibility of the brand selling the product (you) to ensure your products comply with all the regulations. These include:
1) The chemicals used in your cosmetics must be permitted for use in Australia.
The Australian Industrial Chemical Introduction Scheme (AICIS), formally known as NICNAS, assesses the risks associated with the importation, manufacture or use of industrial chemicals – not just those used in cosmetics, but also for other industries. It assesses these chemicals based on their safety to the general public, occupational health and safety (workplace) and the environment. Where applicable, chemicals listed on AICIS also contain secondary notifications, conditions of use or assessments which further stipulate the safety requirements.
PLC ensures all products we supply comply with AICIS obligations so this one regulatory requirement you can leave to us and not worry about yourself.
2) Are any Ingredients you use subject to Poisons Scheduling.
The TGA regulates therapeutic products in Australia and administers the Poison Standard. Ingredients in your cosmetic products must be non-scheduled or can only appear in Schedules 5 or 6 of the Poisons Standard and not in any other Schedule. If your ingredient is listed in Schedule 5 or 6, then certain criteria outlined in the appendix of the Poisons Standard must be met which usually requires warnings, safety directions and/or a first aid instructions on your label. If your ingredient does not match any criteria, you don’t need these statements on your label.
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PLC ensures all products we supply comply with Poisons Schedule obligations so this is another regulatory requirement you can leave to us and not worry about yourself. If any warning statements are required we will let you know.
3) Measuring your cosmetic goods.
The National Measurement Institute (NMI) is responsible for biological, chemical, legal, physical and trade measurements. To comply with NMI:
a) Cosmetics fall under the pre-packaged goods category and NMI ensures the quantity of packaged goods sold by measure equals that on the label. At PLC we use the Average System where no pre-packaged article can have a shortfall greater than 5% of the stated quantity.
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b) There are strict formatting requirements for the unit, position, placement, character height and spacing of the measurement marking on your label.
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c) The legislation also indicates the name and address of the supplier (your brand details) to be on the product label.
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PLC ensures when we package your products the weights dispensed complies with The Average System set by NMI so we take care of another regulatory requirement so you do not need to worry about it. We also offer advice on labeling requirements to ensure your labels comply with NMI.
4) Safety, Claims and Labelling Obligations.
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the national competition regulator that ensures businesses supplying cosmetic products comply with Australian competition, fair-trading and consumer-protection laws.
Your compliance obligations with the ACCC are:
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1) Your cosmetic product must be of an acceptable quality and safe to use.
Note, the ACCC does not prescribe the tests needed to ensure your products meet these guarantees. The Australian cosmetic industry therefore relies on best-practice guidelines.
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2) All product claims you make about your ingredients and products must be cosmetic-type claims only (not therapeutic), true, not deceptive and not misleading. You must be able to substantiate all of your claims.
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3) All the information you provide about your cosmetic products must be an accurate representation of what the product is and does – your product descriptions MUST match what the customer receives.
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4) Your ingredient listings must comply with the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Information Standards) (Cosmetics) Regulations 1991.
5) Should any adverse feedback about your products be brought to your attention, you may need to follow the mandatory reporting and product recall process.
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PLC can help assist you to meet these requirements by providing you with the ingredient list for product labels, using ingredients that are safe to use and if you are ever audited we can supply you with product stability data if your using products in our pre-formulated range to prove their quality and safety.
If you have developed your own customised range then we recommend you arrange stability tests. We can perform these stability tests for you or you can outsource them. These tests include testing emulsion stability (freeze-thaw test), product stability (accelerated stability tests) measuring a number of parameters such as viscosity, pH and appearance over time under accelerated conditions as well as microbial testing to test the preservatives effectiveness. Contact us for details.