Promulgated by Decree No. 284 of the General Administration of Customs on May 6, 2026
Effective: December 1, 2026
Table of Contents
Chapter I — General Provisions
Article 1 — These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and its implementing regulations, the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics, the Special Provisions of the State Council on Strengthening the Supervision and Administration of the Safety of Food and Other Products, and other laws and administrative regulations, for the purpose of strengthening the safety supervision and administration of imported and exported cosmetics and safeguarding the health rights and interests of consumers.
Article 2 — These Measures apply to the inspection, quarantine, supervision and administration of the following imported and exported cosmetics:
(1) those included in the catalogue of import and export commodities subject to inspection and quarantine by the Customs;
(2) those subject to inspection and quarantine by the Customs under the relevant international treaties, laws and administrative regulations.
Article 3 — The Customs shall, in accordance with the law, carry out inspection, quarantine, supervision and administration of imported and exported cosmetics.
The Customs shall inspect imported and exported cosmetics in accordance with the principle of risk management and the conformity assessment procedures prescribed by the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection.
Article 4 — Producers and traders of imported and exported cosmetics shall engage in production and business operations in accordance with laws, administrative regulations and relevant standards, strengthen management, act with integrity and self-discipline, and ensure the safety of cosmetics.
Article 5 — The Customs shall strengthen the application of modern science and technology and enhance the level of informatization, digitalization and intelligence in the inspection, quarantine, supervision and administration of imported and exported cosmetics.
Chapter II — Inspection and Quarantine of Imported Cosmetics
Article 6 — The consignee of imported cosmetics or its agent shall truthfully declare to the Customs in accordance with the law and attach the relevant materials.
Imported cosmetics shall complete the registration of special cosmetics or the filing of ordinary cosmetics in accordance with the law, and the Customs shall verify this through automatic electronic data comparison.
Article 7 — The Customs shall inspect imported cosmetics in accordance with the mandatory requirements of the national technical specifications of China.
Where China has not yet formulated mandatory requirements of national technical specifications, inspection may be carried out by reference to the relevant foreign standards designated by the General Administration of Customs.
Article 8 — Imported cosmetics shall be inspected at the destination declared by the consignee or its agent. The General Administration of Customs may, based on the need to facilitate trade and import inspection, designate other locations for inspection.
Article 9 — The Customs may, based on the need for supervision and administration, carry out on-site inspection of imported cosmetics. Where laboratory testing is required, samples shall be taken in accordance with the provisions, sampling certificates shall be issued, and the samples shall be sent to testing institutions for testing.
Testing institutions shall lawfully obtain the corresponding qualification accreditation, carry out testing as required and issue reports within the prescribed time.
Article 10 — The Customs shall verify the labels of imported cosmetics in accordance with the law, and the specific requirements shall be separately prescribed by the General Administration of Customs.
Article 11 — Where imported cosmetics pass inspection, the Customs shall issue an inspection certificate in accordance with the law.
Where imported cosmetics fail inspection by the Customs, and involve items of safety, health or environmental protection, the Customs shall order their destruction or return; where other items fail inspection, technical treatment may be carried out under the supervision of the Customs, and the cosmetics may be sold or used only after they pass re-inspection; where technical treatment cannot be carried out or the cosmetics still fail after technical treatment, the Customs shall order their destruction or return.
Article 12 — Importers shall truthfully record the information of imported cosmetics, and the records shall be truthful and complete so as to ensure traceability.
The retention period of records shall not be less than one year after the expiry of the product’s usage period; where the product’s usage period is less than one year, the retention period of records shall not be less than two years.
Article 13 — For samples used for the registration or filing of imported cosmetics, and non-trial samples used for enterprise testing, research and development and publicity, explanations of the use and disposal of the samples, commitments of non-sale use and other materials required by the Customs shall be provided at the time of declaration; where the quantity is within a reasonable range of use, the Customs shall exempt them from inspection. Importers shall truthfully record the flow of the cosmetics, and the retention period of records shall not be less than two years.
Article 14 — Imported cosmetics declared as official supplies by foreign diplomatic and consular missions in China and by representative offices in China of international organizations enjoying diplomatic privileges and immunities shall be exempt from inspection. Where necessary, the Customs may carry out examination.
Article 15 — Where an epidemic or disease occurring abroad may affect the safety of imported cosmetics, the Customs shall carry out quarantine of imported cosmetics in accordance with the law.
Chapter III — Inspection and Quarantine of Exported Cosmetics
Article 16 — Exported cosmetics shall conform to the standards of the importing country (region) or the contract requirements. Where the importing country (region) has no relevant standards and the contract has no requirements, the relevant standards may be designated by the General Administration of Customs.
Article 17 — Enterprises producing exported cosmetics shall establish a quality management system and ensure its continuous and effective operation.
Article 18 — Exported cosmetics shall be inspected at the place of production. The General Administration of Customs may, based on the need to facilitate trade and export inspection, designate other locations for inspection.
Article 19 — Before cosmetics are exported, the production enterprise, the consignor or its agent shall apply to the Customs for inspection in accordance with the law and attach the relevant materials.
Article 20 — Where the Customs carries out on-site inspection or laboratory testing of exported cosmetics based on the need for supervision and administration, Article 9 of these Measures shall apply.
Article 21 — When exporting cosmetics, the consignor or its agent shall truthfully declare to the Customs in accordance with the law and attach the relevant materials.
The Customs shall, based on the need for supervision and administration, examine exported cosmetics in accordance with the law.
Article 22 — Where exported cosmetics pass inspection by the Customs, their export shall be permitted. Where the importing country (region) requires an inspection certificate, the Customs shall issue the inspection certificate.
Where exported cosmetics fail inspection by the Customs, technical treatment may be carried out under the supervision of the Customs, and the cosmetics may be exported only after they pass re-inspection; where technical treatment cannot be carried out or the cosmetics still fail after technical treatment, their export shall not be permitted.
Article 23 — For cosmetics processed with supplied materials that are entirely re-exported, where, upon import of the supplied materials, certifying documents showing conformity with the regulations or standards of the country (region) to which the products are to be re-exported can be provided, inspection in accordance with the standards of China may be exempted; the processed products shall be inspected in accordance with the standards of the importing country (region) or the contract requirements.
Article 24 — Where an epidemic or disease occurring in China may affect the safety of exported cosmetics, the Customs shall carry out quarantine of exported cosmetics in accordance with the law.
Chapter IV — Supervision and Administration
Article 25 — The Customs shall, in accordance with state provisions, carry out random inspection of imported and exported cosmetics other than those that must be inspected by the Customs under these Measures.
Article 26 — The Customs shall carry out risk monitoring of the safety of imported and exported cosmetics, and organize the formulation and implementation of risk monitoring plans for the safety of imported and exported cosmetics.
Article 27 — Where safety problems occur in imported and exported cosmetics, or where cosmetic safety problems occurring domestically or abroad may affect the safety of imported and exported cosmetics, the Customs may, based on risk assessment conclusions, take the following disposal measures commensurate with the level of risk in accordance with the law:
(1) increasing the items of inspection and raising the frequency of inspection;
(2) issuing risk warnings or notifying the relevant departments;
(3) suspending import;
(4) other measures prescribed by the General Administration of Customs.
Where imported and exported cosmetics constitute or may constitute a serious risk to human health, the General Administration of Customs may directly take necessary emergency disposal measures.
Where the risk level of imported and exported cosmetics changes, the Customs may adjust the risk disposal measures.
Article 28 — Where safety problems exist in imported and exported cosmetics and may have caused or have caused harm to human health and safety of life, the producers and traders of imported and exported cosmetics shall take corresponding measures in accordance with the law and immediately report to the Customs.
Article 29 — The Customs shall, in accordance with the law, implement credit management of consignees of imported cosmetics and production enterprises and consignors of exported cosmetics, and take classified management measures.
Article 30 — Where the consignee of imported cosmetics, or the production enterprise or consignor of exported cosmetics, objects to the inspection result of the Customs, it may apply for re-inspection in accordance with the relevant provisions on the re-inspection of import and export commodities.
The Customs shall not accept the application for re-inspection under any of the following circumstances:
(1) the inspection result shows that the microbiological indicators exceed the standards;
(2) the product has exceeded its usage period;
(3) other reasons render re-inspection impossible.
Chapter V — Legal Liability
Article 31 — Where the consignee of imported cosmetics fails to perform the obligation of return or destruction, the Customs shall impose a warning or a fine of not more than RMB 10,000.
Article 32 — Where producers and traders of imported and exported cosmetics have other illegal acts, they shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative regulations. Where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Chapter VI — Supplementary Provisions
Article 33 — The inspection, quarantine, supervision and administration of cosmetics imported through cross-border e-commerce retail and cosmetics declared for import as exhibits shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions.
Article 34 — These Measures do not apply to imported and exported toilet soap, except where it is claimed to have the efficacy of special cosmetics.
Imported and exported toothpaste and semi-finished cosmetics shall be administered by reference to these Measures. The Customs shall exempt semi-finished cosmetics from the verification of registration or filing and from label verification at the import stage.
Article 35 — For the purposes of these Measures, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “cosmetics” means daily chemical industrial products that are applied to the surface of the human body such as the skin, hair, nails and lips by smearing, spraying or other similar methods for the purpose of cleaning, protecting, beautifying or decorating;
(2) “semi-finished cosmetics” means products for which all other production and processing procedures have been completed except the final “filling” or “repackaging” procedure.
Article 36 — These Measures shall be interpreted by the General Administration of Customs.
Article 37 — These Measures shall come into force on December 1, 2026. The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Inspection and Quarantine of Imported and Exported Cosmetics, promulgated by Decree No. 143 of the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on August 10, 2011, and amended by Decree No. 238 of the General Administration of Customs on April 28, 2018, Decree No. 240 of the General Administration of Customs on May 29, 2018, and Decree No. 243 of the General Administration of Customs on November 23, 2018, shall be repealed simultaneously.
Disclaimer: This translation is provided for reference and informational purposes only. In the event of any discrepancy, the official Chinese text issued by the General Administration of Customs shall prevail. This translation does not constitute legal advice.
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