FDA to tighten regulation of cosmetic products

Photo from the Facebook page of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to tighten its regulatory powers over the new breed of cosmetic products with therapeutic claims, as technologies in the skin care industry continue to evolve.

FDA spokesperson Job Aguzar said on Saturday that the FDA was moving to “update its current regulatory framework … to find ways to regulate (functional cosmetic) products better.” He noted that “functional cosmetics may have claims other than their traditional benefits.”

The FDA announced last week the launching of a Functional Pop Beauty, or “F-Pop,” Initiative to “create new pathways of registration” for such innovative commodities, “instead of the typical notification imposed by the agency.”

It cited South Korea, China, and Thailand which have already delineated general cosmetics from functional cosmetics.

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Regulatory reviews of cosmetic products with health benefits are underway in Thailand, the FDA noted.

Such efforts, it said, provided functional cosmetic products a “market registration pathway distinct from the categories of general cosmetics and drugs.

—KATHLEEN DE VILLA