Health Canada's Regulations Amending the Cosmetic Regulations
On December 1, 2004, Health Canada published the "Regulations Amending the Cosmetic Regulations" in the Canada Gazette, Part II. These new regulations will make ingredient labeling mandatory for all cosmetic products sold in Canada.
The new regulations will become effective November 16, 2006. All cosmetic products will have to be in compliance with all the new requirements.
Selected excerpts:
"ICI Dictionary" means the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook, 10th edition (2004), published in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., by The Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association Inc., as amended from time to time; (dictionnaire ICI)
"INCI name" means the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient name assigned to an ingredient in the ICI Dictionary; (appellation INCI)
18. The information required by these Regulations to be provided on the label of a cosmetic must
(a) be shown both in English and in French, except for the INCI name; and
(b) be clearly legible and remain so throughout the useful life of the cosmetic, or in the case of a refillable container, throughout its useful life, under normal conditions of sale and use.
19. If a cosmetic has only one label, that label must contain all the information required by these Regulations to be shown on both the inner and outer labels.
21.1 Sections 21.2 to 21.5 do not apply to any product whose ingredient labelling is regulated under the Food and Drug Regulations or the Natural Health Products Regulations.
21.2 (1) Subject to subsection (4), a list of ingredients must appear on the outer label of a cosmetic, with each ingredient listed only by its INCI name.
(2) In the case of makeup and nail polish and enamel sold in a range of colour shades, all colouring agents used in the range may be listed if they are preceded by the symbol "+/-" or "ñ" or the phrase "may contain/peut contenir".
(3) Botanicals must be listed by specifying at least the genus and species portions of the INCI name.
(4) An ingredient that is included in the schedule may be listed either by its EU trivial name set out in column 1 of the schedule or by the appropriate English and French equivalents set out in columns 2 and 3.
21.3 An ingredient that has no INCI name must be listed by its chemical name.
21.4 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance, in their concentration by weight.
(2) Ingredients that are present at a concentration of 1% or less and all colouring agents, regardless of their concentration, may be listed in random order after the ingredients that are present at a concentration of more than 1%.
(3) In the case of fragrance and flavour, the words "parfum" and "aroma", respectively, may be inserted at the end of the list of ingredients to indicate that such ingredients have been added to the cosmetic to produce or to mask a particular odour or flavour.
For complete details on these new regulations are available online:
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2004/20041201/html/sor244-e.html
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2004/20041201/pdf/g2-13824.pdf
Source:
Maurice O. Hevey - Convergent Cosmetics, Inc.
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