The Cosmetic Regulations have been amended to clarify and introduce several new requirements in order to reduce health risks to the Canadian public. Cosmetic products include make-up, perfume, skin cream, nail polish, soap, shampoo, and deodorant.
Labels must provide a list of ingredients using the International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) system in order to provide the user with information allowing them to avoid products that contain ingredients that may cause an adverse reaction. The INCI system provides uniform and consistent information to both consumers and health care professionals, and is already mandatory in the United States and European Union.
Importers must provide all label information (e.g. description, form, function, ingredients, manufacturer) to Health Canada at the latest 10 days after the first sale. Contact:
Cosmetics Program
Health Canada
MacDonald Building
123 Slater Street, 4th Floor A.L. 3504D
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Telephone
(613) 957-7926
E-mail
[email protected]
Compliance with the new regulations are to be enforced by one or more of the following: warning letter, import refusal, public advisory, product seizure, court prosecution, depending on the nature and severity of the offence.
The effective date of these regulations is November 16, 2006.
Additional information concerning this topic is available from our technical consulting group.