Cosmetic Compliance in Australia and New Zealand

Australia

Australia regulates cosmetics not as a product class but through their ingredients, which are treated as industrial chemicals. The Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS), established under the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 and replacing NICNAS from 1 July 2020, is the regulator. The obligation is on the introducer: a business importing or manufacturing cosmetics must register with AICIS (the registration is of the business, not the product), categorise each introduction, and confirm that every ingredient is on the Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals or otherwise covered. There is no EU-style product registration.

Consumer labelling is set separately by the Consumer Goods (Cosmetics) Information Standard 2020, made under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and enforced by the ACCC, which requires the ingredient list among other particulars. The boundary to watch is therapeutic goods: primary sunscreens with an SPF of 4 or more, and certain other products, are regulated by the TGA under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, with the line drawn by the Therapeutic Goods (Excluded Goods) Determination 2018. Insect repellents fall to the APVMA.

Our Australia Compliance Statement cross-checks every ingredient against the AICIS Inventory, reviews the use restrictions, assesses labelling against the Information Standard, confirms whether the TGA has jurisdiction, and provides an ACCC compliance note, for inclusion in the Product Information File as the Australia annex. It is £149 in addition to a CPSR engagement.

New Zealand

New Zealand regulates cosmetics under the EPA Cosmetic Products Group Standard 2020 (HSR002552), made under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, with a consolidated version effective from 1 January 2026. The 2026 consolidation widens the scope to capture any cosmetic that contains a hazardous ingredient, even where the finished product is not itself hazardous, and it phases out PFAS: no import or manufacture from 1 January 2027, no sale from 1 January 2028, and disposal of remaining stock by 30 June 2028. It also tightens the position on homosalate and requires compliance with the IFRA Standards for fragrance.

Our New Zealand Compliance Statement cross-references every ingredient against the Group Standard schedules, provides a PFAS phase-out attestation, verifies IFRA fragrance compliance, checks nanomaterial notification, and confirms EPA approval, for the New Zealand annex. It is £179 in addition to a CPSR.

How Oxford Biosciences helps

The two markets sit either side of the Tasman with quite different mechanisms, an industrial-chemicals scheme in Australia and a hazardous-substances Group Standard in New Zealand. For a product already assessed for the EU or UK we prepare each annex from the existing evidence base, so the substance and labelling work is done once and adapted to each. All fees are exclusive of VAT.