The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) released on March 31, 2026, a public consultation draft titled “Announcement on Matters Related to Cosmetics Registration and Filing (Draft for Comments)” on its official website. The draft includes provisions regarding the exemption of animal testing data for certain cosmetics.
The specific information is as follows:
For special cosmetics such as hair perming products, non-oxidative hair dyes, and pigmentation spots and whitening cosmetics that function only through physical coverage, as well as general cosmetics and the aforementioned special cosmetics that use new cosmetic ingredients still under the safety monitoring period, if the manufacturer has obtained certification documents related to the production quality management system issued by the competent government authority of the country (region) where it is located, and the product safety risk assessment results are sufficient to fully confirm the product safety, the product will be exempt from submitting toxicological test reports during product registration or filing.
The new regulation exempts the following cosmetics from animal testing:
- Special cosmetics including hair perming products, non-oxidative hair dyes (such as plant-based hair dyes), and pigmentation spots and whitening cosmetics that only have physical covering effects;
- General cosmetics using new cosmetic ingredients that are still under the safety monitoring period, as well as the aforementioned special cosmetics.
This is very good news for European companies planning to file new cosmetic ingredients in China or to register/file the above categories of cosmetics.
The formal announcement is expected to be officially released in the near future.