At present, China's cosmetics market is the second largest cosmetics market in the world and is still in a period of rapid growth. In order to share China's fast-growing cosmetics market, foreign cosmetics companies have joined the feast. With the rapid development of China's economy and the accelerated flow of global information, consumers' sales ability and consumption awareness are increasingly enhanced. In order to improve the quality of life, imported cosmetics are favored by more and more consumers. China has further lowered import tariffs, including tariffs on some middle and high-end goods, laying a good foundation for foreign cosmetics to enter the Chinese market. Followed by the import of cosmetics trade volume and inspection and quarantine business volume showed a sharp growth trend. At the same time, there are also many challenges in China's imported cosmetics market, such as fake and shoddy imported cosmetics everywhere, the approval cycle of cosmetics import and export supervision process is too long, the approval rate of special imported cosmetics is low, and the regulatory system is adjusted frequently. The above problems make many foreign brands to enter the Chinese market face a lot of challenges. Jiao Hanwei, lawyer of Shanghai Guohillhouse Law Firm, will talk about the supervision system of cosmetics import and export in China from the perspective of law and management, so as to provide reference for cosmetics operators.

Cosmetics import and export supervision system

The supervision of cosmetics import and export refers to the supervision of cosmetics regulatory bodies to supervise the import and export of cosmetics by cosmetics trading enterprises in accordance with the law, and investigate the legal responsibility of cosmetics trading enterprises and relevant responsible persons for illegal import or export of cosmetics. The supervision of cosmetics import and export is an important part of cosmetics supervision. According to the Regulations on Hygiene Supervision of Cosmetics and other relevant laws and regulations, China implements a health licensing system for the first import of special use cosmetics and a filing system for the first import of non-special use cosmetics. In addition, China also implements a compulsory inspection and quarantine supervision system for import and export cosmetics. The supervision of cosmetics import and export by cosmetics regulatory agencies ensures the orderly development of China's cosmetics industry and protects the legitimate rights and interests of consumers; At the same time, it also provides institutional guarantee for the import and export of cosmetics for cosmetics enterprises, ensures the smooth development of the import and export business of cosmetics enterprises, and promotes the healthy and orderly development of the import and export cosmetics market.

Cosmetics import and export supervision agency

At present, China's import and export cosmetics regulatory agencies are mainly the national food and drug supervision and administration department and the national quality supervision, inspection and quarantine department. Among them, the State food and drug supervision department is responsible for the administrative licensing of cosmetics for special use imported for the first time, conducting technical review of cosmetics for special use imported for the first time, and issuing approval numbers and certificates; To be responsible for the filing of the first imported non-special use cosmetics, and to conduct the filing management of the first imported non-special use cosmetics; At the same time, the quality of imported cosmetics products is regularly monitored. The State department for quality supervision, Inspection and quarantine shall be in charge of the supervision and administration of the inspection and quarantine of cosmetics in import and export links throughout the country.

First import of cosmetics health approval

In order to regulate the import behavior of cosmetics, the State food and drug administration department carries out health supervision on the cosmetics imported from abroad to be sold in China, so as to achieve the purpose of protecting the personal health and safety of consumers. China divides cosmetics into special use cosmetics and non-special use cosmetics, among which special use cosmetics include hair care, hair color, perm, hair removal, beauty, bodybuilding, deodorization, whitening and freckle, sun protection nine categories; Cosmetics other than the above nine categories are non-special use cosmetics. At present, China carries out health approval and supervision on imported cosmetics products; No sanitary approval and supervision shall be carried out on semi-finished products and intermediate products of cosmetics. Among them, the sanitary licensing and supervision system shall be implemented for the first time imported finished cosmetics for special purposes; The supervision of non-special use cosmetics products imported for the first time implemented the health licensing supervision system in the early stage, and is now adjusted to implement the filing supervision system. At this stage, the import of special use cosmetics license is concentrated in the Beijing State Food and Drug Administration, the cycle is usually about 12-18 months. For the filing of non-special use cosmetics, the supervision system of the State Food and Drug Administration's health license and the filing of 11 free trade zones will be implemented before 2018; Since November 10, 2018, the national food and drug regulatory authorities will import non-special use cosmetics for the first time by the health license approval management and the pilot free trade zone to implement the record management adjustment to the national unified record management, the State Drug Administration will no longer accept the import of non-special use cosmetics administrative license application. The validity period of the administrative license for the first import of special use cosmetics and the filing certificate for the first import of non-special use cosmetics are four years. It should be pointed out that the State Food and Drug Administration announced No. 45 in 2019 that since June 30, 2019, the approval system of special use cosmetics administrative license renewal commitment system has been implemented, that is, if the validity of the special use cosmetics approval certificate needs to be extended, the applicant will self-examine and promise to meet the requirements of regulations and standards. The State Food and Drug Administration granted the application for the continuation of the approval, and then organized the technical review, and strengthened the supervision and inspection in combination with the daily supervision work. If no applicant exceeds the validity period, it will be treated as no approval document. The sanitary license and approval number of imported cosmetics shall not be altered or transferred, and it is strictly prohibited to forge or resell. The sanitary license for imported cosmetics is valid only for the varieties and countries and manufacturers specified in the approval. The foreign manufacturer or its agent shall go through the import formalities according to the relevant provisions of the state with the approval of the sanitary license for imported cosmetics. The approval system of the extension commitment system for the approval of imported special use cosmetics and the national implementation of the record system for imported non-special use cosmetics have greatly improved the business efficiency of imported cosmetics operators and are a great progress. However, cosmetics belong to fast-moving consumer goods, the market changes rapidly, product update iteration is particularly fast, the current imported cosmetics hygiene license about 12-18 months of the license cycle greatly delayed the market opportunity of imported cosmetics, obviously can not meet the business needs of imported cosmetics business enterprises, still need to be further improved. For the export of cosmetics, in addition to health supervision at the production stage, no special health supervision system is implemented in the export link.

Cosmetic import and export inspection and quarantine

In order to regulate the quality of import and export cosmetics, safeguard the social public interests and the legitimate rights and interests of all parties concerned in import and export trade, the State quality supervision, inspection and quarantine authority shall conduct inspection and quarantine according to law on the foreign brand cosmetics imported into China and the cosmetics exported by Chinese cosmetics enterprises to foreign markets. Through the inspection and quarantine of cosmetics, the health and safety of consumers are protected and fraud is prevented. At present, China implements a compulsory inspection and quarantine system for the import and export of finished cosmetics, semi-finished cosmetics and intermediate cosmetics. Foreign brand cosmetics imported into the domestic market can be imported and sold only after passing the inspection; Cosmetics exported by cosmetics enterprises shall not be exported to overseas until they pass the inspection. The inspection and quarantine of cosmetics import and export mainly includes two contents: label inspection and product inspection. Cosmetics label inspection means that the national quality supervision, inspection and quarantine department conducts compliance tests on the authenticity and accuracy of the contents of the import and export cosmetics labels that reflect the health and quality status of cosmetics, efficacy and ingredients, and tests the compliance of the label format, layout, text description, graphics, symbols, etc., in accordance with relevant provisions. The contents of cosmetics label audit include: (1) whether the health quality status, efficacy and ingredients of cosmetics marked on the label are true and accurate; (2) Whether the format, layout, text description, graphics, symbols, etc. of the label comply with the relevant provisions; (3) Whether the imported cosmetics use correct Chinese labels; (4) Whether the label meets the requirements of the importing country. The inspection and quarantine of cosmetic products refers to the inspection of import and export cosmetic products submitted for inspection by the State quality supervision, inspection and quarantine authority in accordance with the compulsory requirements of the national technical norms such as the Hygiene Code for Cosmetics. The items that the inspection and quarantine institutions carry out inspection on import and export cosmetics include: the label, quantity, weight, specification, packaging, marking, quality and hygiene of cosmetics. Cosmetic import inspection and quarantine procedures, different ports, different periods will have certain differences. The inspection and quarantine procedures of finished cosmetics, semi-finished cosmetics and intermediate cosmetics imported for the first time at Shanghai port include five links: consignee filing, product filing, inspection and quarantine, and certification; The inspection and quarantine procedures of non-first-time imported finished cosmetics, semi-finished cosmetics and intermediate cosmetics at Shanghai port are four links: consignee filing, inspection and quarantine and certification.

To sum up, China implements a health license supervision system for the first import of special use cosmetics; A regulatory system of filing vouchers shall be implemented for non-special use cosmetics imported for the first time. In the licensing procedure for special use cosmetics, imported cosmetics samples must be reviewed by health department experts after testing, and then approved, so the licensing of special use cosmetics takes a long time, from the beginning of the product inspection to the approval of the approval document is usually about 12-18 months. In the filing procedure of non-special use cosmetics, imported cosmetics samples do not participate in the review meeting after testing, so the filing time is relatively short, from the beginning of product inspection to obtaining the filing certificate is usually about 4-5 months. Therefore, cosmetic operators importing cosmetics for the first time should apply to China's regulatory authorities for the hygiene administrative license for the first import of special use cosmetics or the record certificate for the first import of non-special use cosmetics before the product is imported, and only after the application is approved can the production of imported cosmetics be carried out in accordance with the contents registered in the hygiene license or record certificate. And the corresponding approval number or record number marked on the product label. After the products arrive at the customs, they shall apply for inspection and quarantine, and only after passing the inspection and quarantine can they be imported into China for sale. Otherwise, the normal progress of cosmetics import and export business will be affected, and the heavy will cause economic losses, and even lead to the corresponding legal responsibilities such as administrative penalties for cosmetics operators.

Jiao Hanwei

Chief partner and lawyer of Shanghai Guohillhouse Law Firm

Have more than 10 years of legal service experience and more than 5 years of cosmetics business experience, familiar with law, familiar with business, He is good at providing enterprises with legal counsel, contract review, brand management, business compliance, business negotiation, intellectual property management, tax planning, equity transfer, corporate structure design, equity incentive, investment and financing, restructuring and merger, dispute resolution and other solutions for the whole stage of enterprise development from the perspective of law and business operation.