CA Canada continues to pursue the establishment of a new Government issued or authorized GMP compliance certificate to facilitate the export of Canadian manufactured cosmetic products to China. This compliance certificate has been created under China’s new cosmetic regulations to exempt imported cosmetic products from its animal testing requirements and as such provides a significant opportunity for the Canadian cosmetic manufacturing industry. However, it MUST be issued by the government of the exporting jurisdiction which is not something that is part of the regulatory frameworks for cosmetics anywhere across the globe. GMP compliance certificates issued by third parties – including CA – have not been accepted as they are not issued by government.
Although this provision was officially implemented on May 1, 2021, neither CA, its member companies, or allied trade associations internationally are aware of any certificate that has yet been accepted by Chinese authorities.
Reflecting these discussions, Cosmetic Alliance Canada is in the process of formally proposing the establishment by Health Canada of a voluntary certification program for identified cosmetic products (“non-special” or “normal” cosmetics as defined in China) intended for export to China and requiring such a government issued GMP certificate to meet China’s exemption for animal testing.
It is recognized that such a program would be limited to this purpose, must maintain the integrity and reputation of Health Canada as a regulator and as such should rely on existing regulatory/oversight structures as much as possible, and provide for the applicant’s voluntary consent for participation including the authority for such verification measures as Health Canada may require where no statutory authority exists, and be as simple and efficient to administer as possible.
It is also recognized that at the time of writing that it may be an intention of Chinese authorities to make it essentially impossible to meet the exemption to support domestic Chinese products or force international companies to manufacture in China. Having the Canadian Government, as well as other governments, put this to the test by developing a reasonable and responsible pilot certification program – and to test if it would meet the Chinese requirements and if not, why – would assist in determining if this is a non-tariff barrier to trade for which some trade action could be considered.
Your CA Team will keep you updated on this important issue.
