United Kingdom (GB) - Cosmetics
UKCA and compliance requirements for cosmetics
Products applied to the body for cleansing or beautification. Governed primarily by dedicated cosmetics law in every market — the entries here are only the general-safety layer around that sector regime.
For example: face cream, shampoo bar, lipstick, essential oil blend.
IMPORTANT CAVEAT: the EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 (responsible person, safety assessment, Product Information File, CPNP notification, ingredient labelling) is the primary law and is beyond this dataset's electronics focus — flag as 'additional sector rules apply'. The UK has an equivalent retained Cosmetics Regulation (notification via SCPN). US: cosmetics are regulated by the FDA under the FD&C Act as amended by MoCRA (facility registration, product listing, adverse-event reporting) — also beyond this dataset; note that cosmetics are expressly excluded from the CPSC's 'consumer product' definition, which is why us-cpsa-general and us-cpsia are not listed. Prop 65 still applies to cosmetics sold in California. Medicinal or therapeutic claims (treats eczema, SPF drugs in the US) move the product into drug regulation — out of scope. Children's play make-up must satisfy toy safety law in the EU/UK on top of cosmetics law (hence the forChildren additions) — verify. Powered beauty devices (LED masks, facial brushes) are electronics — use the consumer-electronics category for the device. REACH substance duties still apply to cosmetic ingredients, though most human-health restrictions are handled by cosmetics law — verify overlaps.
Base requirements1 instruments
The general safety net for consumer products in Great Britain: no producer may place a product on the market unless it is safe, and producers and distributors must monitor products and notify authorities about unsafe ones. In Northern Ireland these Regulations were superseded on 13 December 2024 by the EU General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988.
Key obligations
- 01No producer shall place a product on the market unless the product is a safe product (regulation 5) - one which under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use presents no risk, or only the minimum risk compatible with the product's use.source
- 02Producers must provide consumers with the relevant information to enable them to assess the risks and take precautions, and enable traceability by indicating the producer's name and address on the product or its packaging.source
- 03Producers must monitor marketed products: sample-test them, investigate and where necessary keep a register of complaints, and keep distributors informed of the results.source
- 04Distributors must act with due care to help ensure only safe products are supplied and must not supply products that, as a professional, they know or ought to know to be dangerous (regulation 8).source
If your product also...
Extra regulations triggered by specific features
Intended for or marketed to children (under 14)
Documents you will need
Deduplicated across the regulations above
- Traceability and monitoring recordsNo declaration of conformity or technical file is required. Producers should be able to evidence traceability (name and address on product or packaging), sample testing, complaint investigation and, where necessary, a complaints register.source
Frequently asked
Does GPSR 2005 require UKCA marking or a declaration of conformity?+
No. It is a general safety-net regulation with no conformity marking, declaration of conformity or technical file. Your obligations are that the product is safe, that consumers get the information they need, that you can trace products (name and address on the product or packaging), and that you monitor and notify.
Other markets, same product
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