The Indian Cosmetic Industry includes skincare, hair care, fragrances, and oral care segments and stands at US $950 million. Owing to the growing disposable income of the middle-class population and changing lifestyle, the industry is growing at 20 percent per annum as per the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). There is a recent uptick in counterfeit cosmetics products with false claims sold within India, much to the alarm of law enforcement, government officials, and industry professionals. Hence the cosmetics marketed in India, including both locally manufactured and imported, must comply with the labeling requirements of the Rule 129-H read with Part XV of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. The intended use of the product is the basis for categorizing any product as cosmetic.
Cosmetic products manufacturers have to abide by the following label elements on all the packaged items to market them in India:
- The name of the Product
- Name and address of the manufacturers and the manufacturing unit
- List of ingredients of content of the product
Outer Label
- Declaration of the net content of the cosmetic product
- List of ingredients
- Name and address of manufacturer and importer as per legal documents
Inner Label
- Product warnings and precautions for usage
- Directions for safe usage
- Special mention for the hazardous elements
- The list of ingredients
- Number of the manufacturing batch
- For soap, the date and year of manufacturing must be mentioned instead of the manufacturing batch number
Misleading Claims of Cosmetic Labels in the Market
Some of the misleading cosmetic claims that are prevailing in India.
Hypoallergenic
Cosmetic Companies make claims like decreases penetration of allergen or hypoallergenic. Consumers believe that these products will not cause any allergies. In 1978, the FDA looked at this issue and concluded that the term hypoallergenic has no real meaning, and anyone can make this claim.
Natural, Organic
Organic and natural cosmetics make all sorts of claims. According to the FDA, a product only needs to be 20% natural ingredients to use the term on their label. That means 80% (the majority) is not.
Non-comedogenic
There are no regulatory standards for these terms like anti-acne. Even the thickest, greasiest moisturizer claims won’t clog pores. It is better to talk to a dermatologist before using any anti-acne products available online or in the market.
Reduce wrinkles
Some cosmetic products like anti-aging products are marketed with claims that they will make people look younger. No cosmetic skin cream in the market is going to get rid of wrinkles. They can make wrinkles look less obvious. Consumers think wrinkles are going to vanish when they read or see an advertisement of a claim like anti-wrinkle in the product. These claims are fallacious.
The content of labels and permissible label claims is often a gray area for most manufacturers and importers. If you have any queries regarding the import of cosmetics and label claims, you can download Cosmoally for entry to the Indian cosmetic market and fast cosmetic product registration.
N.B. This is subject to change, as per the regulations and ingredients
References:
- Indian Cosmetic Industry. Available at: https://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/cosmetics.html.Accessed on 30th April, 2020.
- 2016 Drugs and Cosmetics Act1940 Rules1945.pdf.Available at: https://cdsco.gov.in/opencms/export/sites/CDSCO_WEB/Pdf-documents/acts_rules/2016DrugsandCosmeticsAct1940Rules1945.pdf.Accessed on 30th April, 2020.
- Wrinkle Treatments and Other Anti-aging products. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-products/wrinkle-treatments-and-other-anti-aging-products.Accessed on 5 th May, 2020.
