What are the regulations for formula milk powder, cosmetics, health products and other commodities in the list?
Answer: After the release of the “Positive List”, many people are particularly concerned about the situation of formula milk powder, cosmetics, health products and other commodities. In fact, the Customs Department of the Ministry of Finance and the State Food and Drug Administration have official interpretations of these categories.
Regarding the “except for those that should be registered but not registered according to the Food Safety Law” in the remarks of “formula milk powder”
According to the newly revised “Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China”, the product formula of infant formula milk powder shall be registered with the food and drug regulatory department of the State Council.
Since the “Administrative Measures for the Registration of Infant Formula Milk Powder Product Formula” is still in the process of formulation, it is not necessary to obtain the formula registration certificate of the relevant product when importing infant formula milk powder through cross-border e-commerce retail.
From January 1, 2018, infant formula milk powder sold in my country, including infant formula milk powder imported through cross-border e-commerce retail, must obtain a product formula registration certificate in accordance with the law. By then, the list of infant formula milk powder that has obtained the product formula registration certificate will be announced on the website of the State Food and Drug Administration.
From this official explanation, it can be seen that the formula milk powder currently imported by cross-border e-commerce is the same as general trade imports, and it is temporarily not necessary to obtain the “product formula registration certificate” in the new “Food Safety Law”. It should be noted that the current factory registration of formula milk powder is required. However, almost all formula milk powder production factories of mainstream brands are registered.
About “except for cosmetics imported for the first time” in the remarks of cosmetics
The “Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics Hygiene” stipulates that cosmetics imported for the first time must obtain a cosmetics license issued by the State Food and Drug Administration (among which, non-special-purpose cosmetics are filing certificates). According to the above provisions, cosmetics imported through cross-border e-commerce retail in the future should be products that have obtained licenses (including filing certificates, the same below) in accordance with relevant regulations.
Currently, the number of cosmetics that have obtained import licenses has reached more than 136,000. The specific list is published in the “Imported Cosmetics” database in the “Data Query” column of the website of the State Food and Drug Administration, covering most of the internationally renowned brands and mainstream products. Consumers can purchase cosmetics with a sufficiently rich range of brands and categories through cross-border e-commerce retail. For cosmetics, “first import” is now clearly defined as “whether a license has been obtained”, rather than saying that cosmetics that have been imported by cross-border e-commerce before are not considered first imports. In simple terms, this regulation is the same as the rules of general trade. Cosmetics imported by cross-border e-commerce need to obtain corresponding licenses. As of April 2016, the number of cosmetics that have obtained licenses is 136,295, but only 53,231 are in the “current” state (i.e., valid state). Can 53,231 cosmetics SKUs meet the basic needs of the people? From the perspective of enterprises, it is definitely not enough; from the perspective of consumers, the more the better; from the perspective of the government, this number is definitely enough to meet the basic needs of ordinary people.