© whyframeshot stock.adobe.com
China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has announced eight measures to streamline cosmetics registration and notification procedures, including for toothpaste.
The measures remove the requirement to submit ingredient safety information and submission codes, expand exemptions from animal testing, and allow companies to share safety and efficacy test data across products with similar formulations.
Ingredient information moves to self-archiving
Under the announcement, registrants and notifiers no longer need to submit ingredient safety information documents or ingredient submission codes when registering or notifying a product. They need only provide the name of the ingredient manufacturer, with supporting materials retained by the company for on-demand inspection. The NMPA will also stop publishing ingredient submission codes.
According to the policy interpretation, the change is intended both to clarify that registrants and notifiers bear primary responsibility for product quality and safety and to reduce the data submission burden on companies.
Where technical documents, such as the Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics (STSC), set quality specifications for an ingredient, companies must still submit the specifications or an inspection report in the product formula section or the safety assessment. This also applies where a company submits only basic safety assessment conclusions under the Guidelines for Submitting Cosmetic Safety Assessment Data.
For products already registered or notified, the interpretation outlines two routes. Where an ingredient's manufacturer or quality specifications are added or changed, but the ingredient's content in the formula and the types and proportions of its constituent components are unchanged, companies update the manufacturer information themselves through the registration and notification information platform.
A formal change application is required, however, if quality-assurance components such as trace stabilisers, antioxidants or preservatives change in type or concentration. It is also required when production process optimisation increases the purity of the main functional component, even if the ingredient's content in the formula, the content of the main functional component, and the solvent remain unchanged.
Companies may refer to Annex 14 of the Regulations on the Management of Cosmetic Registration and Filing Materials for guidance on retaining ingredient safety information.
An industry expert familiar with the regulation told Chemical Watch News & Insight that the submission code requirement had allowed delayed or uncooperative overseas ingredient suppliers to stall product launches, and its removal could shorten development timelines by weeks or months.
Animal testing exemptions extended
The announcement waives the requirement to submit toxicological test reports at registration or notification for three categories of special cosmetics: hair-perming products, non-oxidative hair dyes, and spot- or freckle-removing and whitening (skin-lightening) products that work solely through physical covering. The exemption also applies to general cosmetics containing new ingredients, but excludes products intended for children.
To qualify, the manufacturer must hold a production quality management system qualification certificate issued by the competent authority in the country or region where it is located. The policy interpretation cites China's cosmetics production licence as an example. The product's safety assessment must demonstrate safety through an evaluation of ingredients and associated risk substances, product stability, preservative efficacy and packaging compatibility.
The NMPA's technical review department may adjust the scope of exempted products over time through technical guidelines.
The interpretation frames the measure as consistent with the internationally recognised 3R principles on animal testing – replacement, reduction and refinement – and as supporting Chinese cosmetics brands' expansion into overseas markets.
According to a source speaking to Chemical Watch News & Insight, the change removes a barrier for Chinese brands exporting to markets with animal-testing bans, such as the EU.
Shared test data for ‘similar-formula’ products
Companies registering or notifying multiple products with similar-formula systems under the same brand may select one representative product to undergo microbiological, physico-chemical, toxicological and human safety testing. Other products in the group may share those reports, provided the company submits an explanation of the formulas' similarity and evaluates the scientific validity of sharing the data.
The guidance explains that the measure will substantially cut testing costs for colour cosmetics such as lipsticks, blushers and eyeshadows, as well as perfumes, and accelerate launch timelines for trend-driven products.
Where products are made at different sites, each site must select at least one representative product for microbiological and physico-chemical testing, with the corresponding reports submitted for each site's products at the time of registration or notification. Toxicology and human safety reports may still be shared across sites.
A parallel measure allows evaluation of shared efficacy claim data across products with similar formulas, subject to an equivalence evaluation, with the data sharing disclosed in the published efficacy summary. Test reports, similarity explanations and equivalence evaluations are to be archived by the company rather than submitted. For spot-fading and whitening, sunscreen and anti-hair-loss claims, however, efficacy test data and the formula similarity explanation must still be submitted at registration.
The announcement defines similar formula products as those differing only in the type and content of colourants, fragrances, pH adjusters, polymer-type thickeners and pearlescent agents, along with corresponding adjustments to solvents and fillers, with all other formula ingredients, the dosage form and the method of use identical. The definition used for efficacy data sharing additionally lists preservatives among the permitted variations. The NMPA's technical review department may adjust the recognised scope through technical guidelines.
Measures to facilitate first launches
To encourage the launch of new imported cosmetics in China, the announcement allows registrants and notifiers to submit a commitment statement of first launch in place of documents proving the product is already sold in the country where the registrant or notifier is based or where it is produced.
The statement should include the name and address of the registrant or notifier, the domestic responsible person and manufacturer, the product name, and a commitment that the product is being marketed first in China. The sales packaging for the country of production submitted at registration may be a design drawing.
An industry expert told Chemical Watch News & Insight that the measure should eliminate a delay of six to 24 months that newly imported products have typically faced, placing China on an equal footing with other global launch markets.
The package also simplifies dossiers for product transfers or adding production sites, whether imports are moving to domestic manufacture or domestic products are moving overseas.
Where the registrant or notifier, product name and formula are unchanged and applicable standards have not substantively changed, companies may reuse existing toxicology, human safety, safety assessment and efficacy evaluation reports, but must repeat microbiological and physico-chemical testing and submit the original registration certificate or notification credential.
The interpretation frames the measure as facilitating cross-border movement of production, attracting foreign investment and helping guard against the adverse effects of trade barriers.
Beyond spot-fading and whitening, sunscreen and anti-hair-loss claims, companies may – with sufficient scientific basis – choose industry standards, international standards, technical guidelines or validated in-house methods for efficacy claim evaluation testing.
Finally, the announcement simplifies changes to the domestic responsible person. Companies no longer need the outgoing responsible person's stamped consent or a court judgment confirming the change. They need to submit only the authorisation letter for the incoming responsible person with its notarised original, a list of the products concerned, and a commitment letter from the incoming responsible person accepting all responsibilities for the products, including those already on the market.
The announcement (No 70 of 2026) took effect on 29 July upon publication. It implements the NMPA's 'Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Cosmetics Supervision and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Industry', issued on 17 November last year, and supersedes any inconsistent provisions in earlier NMPA documents.
The measures were drafted within the framework of the Cosmetics Supervision and Administration Regulation (CSAR) and the Administrative Measures on Cosmetics Registration and Notification, after consultation with industry and local regulatory officials.