New Regulations on Import and Export Cosmetics Implementing December 1st; General Administration of Customs Interpretation

The General Administration of Customs held a press conference today (the 11th) to interpret the policies of the newly revised Administrative Measures for Inspection and Quarantine Supervision of Import and Export Cosmetics. The new Measures will take effect on December 1. Based on the newly revised Measures, the General Administration of Customs has, together with the National Medical Products Administration, agreed to carry out a pilot program for electronic labeling of imported cosmetics in Shanghai, which has been officially implemented starting today.

Currently, China has become the world’s largest cosmetics consumption market. The scale of import and export is steadily expanding, and trade business models are becoming increasingly diverse. In 2025, the total value of cosmetics imported and exported nationwide was 171.61 billion yuan, up 2.74% year on year; among this, imports were 115.69 billion yuan and exports were 55.92 billion yuan.

The revision of the Measures upholds an “open door” approach, widely soliciting opinions from the public, relevant enterprises, industry associations, and departments such as the National Medical Products Administration. It follows international rules, has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO), and sets a policy transition period of more than 6 months to give sufficient time for enterprises both inside and outside China to adapt to the new policies.

In order to enhance the facilitation level for cross-border trade, the new Measures removes the filing administration of import cosmetics consignees and export cosmetics manufacturing enterprises, and eliminates requirements for designated or recognized venues for cosmetics storage. It optimizes the setting of inspection locations by shifting the inspection location for imported cosmetics from ports to the declared destination submitted by the consignees or their agents. For exported cosmetics, inspection locations may be designated by the General Administration of Customs, making enterprises’ production and operations more independent, allowing for greater autonomy and flexibility. It strengthens inter-departmental data interconnection and interoperability, automatically matching and verifying electronic data such as the registration and filing information for imported cosmetics, further streamlining paper materials and manual reviews. This truly enables enterprises to make fewer trips, while allowing more precise regulation, helping enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Support the development of new business models and build momentum for ongoing reform. The new Measures systematically solidify the achievements of customs’ reform in safety supervision of import and export cosmetics in recent years. Closely aligned with the diversified export needs of beauty products, it innovates the supervision model for market procurement trade and provides “lightweight,” efficient, and convenient customs clearance services tailored for small and micro enterprises to help them expand markets overseas. It cancels special management requirements for first-time imported cosmetics, optimizes the supervision of exhibits, and helps upgrade and improve the quality of business formats such as “first launch, first exhibition, first order, first store.” It expands the scope of imported cosmetics samples exempted from inspection, empowering innovative development of new business models such as testing and R&D, and helping China move from being a “major cosmetics producer” to a “powerful cosmetics country.”

Daily Economic News