Labelling Requirements For Product Formulation In Cosmetics

by Dolly K. Digital Marketing Executive

The labelling requirements for cosmetics in India is governed by the provisions of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1945. It is an important component of the cosmetic registration process and ensures that the consumer is aware of the contents of a product along with other important details.

A cosmetic product can have an inner and outer label or just one single label to describe about itself. The information that has to be imprinted on the label of a cosmetic product includes values like:

Name of the product along with artwork
Maximum retail price
Best before date and/or manufacturing date
Batch number
Address of the manufacturing premises
Product formulation(list of ingredients)
Customer support information(if any)
Warning or caution for use

Or in layman terms, the label of a cosmetic product shall describe the identity of the product, its metrology and the composition.

While all other factors are certainly clear and straightforward to be mentioned on the label, the product formulation needs special attention.

According to the conglomeration of rules specified by the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 & 1945 and the Legal Metrology Act, 2011, the label of a cosmetic product must exactly mention the percentage of each major ingredient present in the composition. Any ingredients that form less than 1% of the composition can be exempted from being mentioned on the label.

Mentioning the product formulation on a cosmetic package can eat up a lot of space on the label. However, it is of extreme importance to clearly mention the ingredients because different people may be allergic to certain chemicals or organic products. This keeps the consumers informed about the product they’ll be using, while also making sure that the manufacturer is not using any shady tactics of developing the product.

Moreover, very small packages (generally less than 30 ml or 10 grams are also required to follow such strict labelling requirements).

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) also plays an important role in laying out the labelling requirements of cosmetic products which have been elaborately discussed in the schedule S of the relevant standards document.

A cosmetic product shall carry a BIS hallmark for quality, along with an ECO mark to denote its eco-friendly composition(if applicable). The involvement of BIS in the manufacturing of cosmetics is deep to the extent that a manufacturer has to obtain pollution related clearance from the state authority.