Understand cosmetic packaging labels in one article: requirements, specifications and key points to avoid pitfalls!

OCI is an ingredient and product compliance technical service company that helps companies promote product declaration compliance with laws such as cosmetics, chemicals, and food. Our company can provide domestic (ordinary/special)/imported (ordinary/special) cosmetics/children's cosmetics/toothpaste and other declaration services and assist cosmetics companies in building quality systems/on-site inspections. Compliance is our long-term responsibility and task with the cosmetics industry.

For consumers, the ingredient list on cosmetics labels can help avoid the risk of allergies, shelf-life reminders can prevent misuse of expired products, and safety warnings can avoid misunderstandings. For companies, whether labels comply with regulations is directly related to whether products can be legally marketed, and more importantly, to the establishment of brand reputation. In recent years, from the mandatory labeling of the "Little Golden Shield" logo to the strict requirements for ingredient sorting, the specifications and details of cosmetic labels have been continuously refined, but many people are confused when faced with dense text: What information must be labeled? What does "Special Certificate Number" mean? What are the rigid rules for font size and Chinese labeling?

# Cosmetics Packaging labels carry a lot of important information, related to our safety and experience. This article will systematically sort out the legal requirements and industry standards for cosmetic packaging labels, break down every detail from basic information to special markings, and lead you to a detailed interpretation of the requirements for cosmetic packaging labels.

1.Font requirements

Cosmetics should have #Chinese labels . Chinese labels should use standardized Chinese characters. If other words or symbols are used, the corresponding explanations of standardized Chinese characters should be used on the visible side of the product sales package, except for website addresses, names and addresses of overseas companies, and conventional professional terms, which must use other characters.

Note: During the design and production process of cosmetic packaging labels, great attention must be paid to the selection of fonts. The use of any unauthorized Chinese fonts is strictly prohibited to avoid potential legal risks of font copyright.

2.Character height and font size requirements

Except for registered trademarks, the font size of other characters on the same visible surface of the Chinese label should be smaller than or equal to the font size of the corresponding standardized Chinese character font.

If the maximum surface area of ​​the cosmetic packaging (container) is greater than 20 square centimeters, the font height of the mandatory content in the cosmetics label shall not be less than 1.8 mm. (Based on the "Cosmetics Labeling Management Regulations").

👉Calculation of maximum surface area: It is recommended that you refer to the calculation method for the maximum surface area of ​​packaging or packaging containers in Appendix A of GB 7718-2011 "National Food Safety Standard - General Principles for Labeling of Prepackaged Foods".

3.Annotate content

（1）Guidelines: Use #guidewords for the mandatory labeling content of regulations, such as: "Chinese name of the product", "Ingredients", "Other trace ingredients", "Note", "Standard number for product implementation", etc.

（2）Product Chinese name: It should be marked in a prominent position on the visible surface of the sales package and on packaging containers that are in direct contact with the contents.

Generally, it consists of three parts: trademark name, common name and attribute name. Conventional and habitually used cosmetic names can omit the common name or attribute name.

👉 The Chinese names of products must not use letters, Chinese pinyin, numbers, symbols, etc., except for registered trademarks, indicating sun protection index, color numbers, serial numbers, or other products that must use letters, Chinese pinyin, numbers, symbols, etc.

👉 If the registered trademark in the Chinese name of the product uses letters, Chinese pinyin, numbers, symbols, etc., its meaning shall be explained on the visible face of the product sales package.

👉 In addition to complying with the relevant national laws and regulations on trademarks, the use of the trademark name in the Chinese name of the product should also comply with the relevant national laws and regulations on cosmetics management. Do not use trademark names to claim medical effects or effects that the product does not have. If the product formula contains such ingredients, the purpose of use shall be explained on the visible side of the sales package. If the product formula does not contain such ingredients, it shall be clearly marked on the visible side of the sales package that the product does not contain such ingredients. The relevant terms shall only be used as trademark names.

👉 If the common name in the Chinese name of the product uses specific ingredient names or words indicating the category of ingredients, it should be consistent with the product formula ingredients, and the efficacy of the ingredient in the product should be consistent with the product efficacy claim. If the name of an animal, plant or mineral is used to describe the fragrance, color or properties of the product, the formula does not need to contain this ingredient. When naming, the name of the product can be named in the form of animal, plant or mineral plus the fragrance, color or shape, or it can be indicated after the attribute name.

👉 The attribute names in the Chinese name of the product should indicate the true physical properties or form of the product.

👉 When the trademark names, common names, and attribute names of different products are the same, other content that needs to be marked should be indicated after the attribute name, including color or color number, sun protection index, smell, applicable hair type, skin type, or specific groups of people, etc.

👉If a trademark name, common name or attribute name meets the above requirements of this article when used alone, but when used in combination may cause consumers to have ambiguity about the efficacy of the product, an explanation shall be provided on the visible side of the sales package.

(3) Special cosmetics registration certificate number: applicable to special cosmetics, marked on the visible side of the sales package.

(4) Product implementation standard number: marked on the visible side of the sales package.

(5) Registrant/filer information: Mark the name and address of the registrant/filer on the visible side of the sales package. If it is an overseas registrant/filer, the name and address of the domestic responsible person must also be indicated.

👉 The name and address of the registrant/filer should be consistent with the company name and address stated on the product registration certificate or filing information, and should be introduced with corresponding introductory words.

👉 When the cosmetics registrant or filing person is the same as the manufacturing company, "registrant/manufacturing company" or "filing person/manufacturing company" can be used as the guide to simplify the labeling.

(6) Production company information: Mark the name and address of the production company on the visible side of the sales package. Domestic cosmetics must also be marked with the production license number of the manufacturer.

👉 The name and address of the production company that completed the last process of contacting the contents should be marked. If the registrant or filing party entrusts multiple production companies to complete the final process of contacting the contents at the same time, the name and address of each entrusted production company can be marked at the same time, and the specific production company of the product can be specified through a code or other means.

(7) Ingredients and other trace ingredients: marked on the visible side of the sales package, the requirements are as follows:

Ingredients with a content of >0.1%: Introduced with "ingredient" as the guide word, and listed in descending order of the content of each ingredient in the product formula.

Ingredients with a content of ≤0.1%: "Other trace ingredients" should be used as the guideline and separately labeled. They do not need to be listed in descending order of ingredient content.

👉 If the formula is reported in the form of compound or mixed ingredients, the content of each ingredient in the formula shall be used as the basis for ranking the ingredient content and determining whether it is a trace ingredient.

👉GB 5296.3 "Instructions for Use of Consumer Products - General Labeling of Cosmetics" clearly states that if two or more ingredient names are marked on the same line in the ingredient list, they should be separated by "," between each ingredient name.

(8) Net content: marked on the sales packaging display surface (specific requirements are as follows, in accordance with the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Measurement of Quantitatively Packaged Commodities).

👉 Composition: "Net content" (Chinese) + number + legal measurement unit (or Chinese counting unit).

👉Label character height:

👉 Legal measurement unit selection:

(9) Use period: marked on the visible side of the sales package (choose one of the following methods):

Production date and shelf life (the production date should be marked in the order of four-digit year, two-digit month and two-digit date using Chinese characters or Arabic numerals);

Production batch number and expiration date;

👉For direct contact with the contents of the packaging container, you can also choose: production batch number and expiration date after opening.

👉When the sales package contains multiple independently packaged products, the use period of each independent package should be marked separately. The use period on the visible surface of the sales package should be marked according to the use period of the independently packaged product that expires earliest; the use period of a single individually packaged product can also be marked separately.

(10) Instructions for use: Marked on the visible side of the sales package or in the instructions accompanying the product.

(11) Safety warning words: marked on the visible side of the sales package, with "Caution" or "Warning" as the guide.

👉Laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, mandatory national standards, and technical specifications have warning words and safety matters related labeling requirements for restricted and permitted components of cosmetics.

👉Laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, mandatory national standards, and technical specifications require relevant precautions for labeling cosmetics suitable for children and other special groups.

👉Laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, mandatory national standards, and technical specifications stipulate that other safety warning terms and precautions should be marked.

👉At present, the main ones that need to be marked with safety warnings include: 47 restricted and permitted components (27 restricted components, 1 permitted sunscreen, 7 permitted preservatives, and 12 permitted hair dyes) that require labeling in the "Technical Specifications for Safety of Cosmetics", and 15 national and industry standards that require labeling of safety precautions.

👉Children's cosmetics must be labeled with the warning "should be used under adult supervision" in accordance with the requirements of the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Children's Cosmetics".

(12) Country of origin (imported products)/place of production (domestic products): Cosmetic labels should indicate the actual production and processing place of the cosmetics. The actual production and processing place of cosmetics should be marked at least to the provincial level according to the administrative division. (According to the "Cosmetics Labeling Management Regulations")

(13) Qualification mark: Cosmetic labels must contain product quality inspection certificates (according to the "Cosmetic Labeling Management Regulations"). Cosmetics sold on the market should be accompanied by product quality inspection certificates in the form of factory inspection reports or qualification marks. (Based on the "Cosmetic Goods Manufacturing Practice")

👉Qualification mark content: inspection qualified, qualified, qualified product, etc.

👉Marking method: printing, inkjet coding, coding, etc.

(14) Storage conditions: Contents that should be marked. If necessary, storage conditions that meet the shelf life or use-by date should be marked. (Based on GB 5296.3-2008 "Instructions for Use of Consumer Products - General Labeling for Cosmetics")

For temperature and other settings that do not have relevant storage conditions in cosmetics, you can refer to the definition of drug storage terms in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (2025 Edition), which can be classified into three dimensions: temperature control, humidity control, and light control:

(15) Others: Other content that should be marked according to laws, administrative regulations and mandatory national standards (for example: GB5296.3 emphasizes that the product standard number should be marked).

Note: The information in this article is all referenced from the official website announcement content and public online resources. If you find any content that is inaccurate or involves copyright issues, please inform us in time and we will verify and deal with it as soon as possible.