Over the course of a single day, most Americans use multiple cosmetic products including face and body cleansers, shaving cream, and haircare products.
While cosmetic products were included in the landmark 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act that overhauled the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of food and drugs and gave the agency authority over cosmetics, the FDA’s cosmetics authority saw limited expansion between 1938 and 2022, with the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1967 being a notable exception.
This meant that the FDA had fewer tools to protect public health and help ensure safe cosmetic products than it did for other FDA-regulated products. For example, although cosmetic companies and individuals who market cosmetics are responsible for ensuring the safety of their products, there were no requirements to register cosmetic facilities with the FDA, to list cosmetic products, or to report serious adverse events as many other FDA-regulated companies did.
This changed on December 29, 2022. After more than a decade-long bipartisan effort, Congress enacted the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA), significantly expanding the FDA’s authority over cosmetics and establishing substantial new requirements for cosmetic companies and individuals who market cosmetics in the United States.