Are you up to date with cosmetics regulation across Asia?

Keeping up with the latest requirements for launching, retailing and marketing cosmetics products across the region is a challenge faced by brands both international and domestic when looking to corner the enormous potential of the market.

ChemLinked’s cosmepedia, the first of which (for Japan) was launched last week, are set to cover key regulatory information and requirements across formulation, packaging and marketing.

Regulation: thorny issue​

Speaking recently to Cosmetics Design at this year’s global in-cosmetics event in Barcelona, regulatory specialist Alain Khaiat​ acknowledged the often rapid pace of change within the regulatory sphere in Asia.

Khaiat noted that two markets of key concern within Asia for beauty formulators when it comes to regulatory hurdles are China and the ASEAN nations, due to the rapid rate of change being seen in the regulation for these regions.

“There is the new regulation draft in China. That’s a very important one because, of course, China is a big market. But it’s also an important one because [the regulation is] a draft and things are not fixed - is it going to be the final regulation? We don’t know yet,”​ he explained.

“It’s a developing country: they went from no regulation, to a regulation, to an improvement, and then they have listened. They are listening to the difficulties that companies have faced - and I would say the most recent draft is more transparent.”​

Referring to the ASEAN nations, Khaiat noted that the new cosmetics directive was being taken on in different ways by different nations within the group, and formulators need to be aware of this variation.

“On the ASEAN, we’re going to mostly emphasise how the different countries implement the directive - there are differences in the implementation,​” he confirmed.

Asia wide​

ChemLinked and its cosmepedia are an initiative from REACH24H Consulting Group, with the company saying the portal was created to “to meet the massive and largely unanswered demand for quality and dependable China and Asian chemical regulatory and compliance information”.​

Along with last week’s Japan launch, ChemLinked states that the coming months will see the launch of further cosmepedia for Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, ASEAN, and more.