GSO 1943 Cosmetics - Safety Requirements for Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

The standard “GSO 1943 Cosmetics - Safety requirements for cosmetics and personal care products”, developed by GSO, a Regional Standardization Organization established with the participation of the Gulf countries, describes the general safety requirements and parameters that must be met by all cosmetics and personal care products, as well as the requirements for labeling and packaging processes. A sample list of these products is included in the annex of this standard (Annex 1).

This technical regulation defines 6 main functions or intended uses for cosmetics and personal care products. These include:

• Clear
• Perfume
• Change the appearance
• To protect
• Keep in good condition
• Correcting body odors

The scope of application of cosmetics is one or more of the following:

• epidermis
• Hair system
• quotes
• Lips
• teeth
• Mucosal membranes of the oral cavity
• external genitalia

Products intended to come into contact with mucous membranes include:

• Products used around the eyes
• Products used on lips
• Products used in the oral cavity
• Products used on external genital organs

For the purposes of this technical regulation, the following terms and definitions apply:

• Cosmetics and personal care products refer to any substance or mixture intended to be brought into contact with the external parts of the human body (epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genitalia) or with the teeth and mucous membranes of the oral cavity. These products are used solely or primarily for the purpose of cleaning, perfume, changing their appearance, protecting, maintaining in good condition or correcting body odors.
• Substance means a chemical element and its compounds in the natural state or obtained by any manufacturing process, including any additives necessary to maintain its stability and any impurities resulting from the process used, but excluding any solvent that can be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition.
• A mixture is a mixture or solution of two or more substances.
• A sunscreen product, any preparation such as a cream, oil, gel, spray, contains UV filters and is intended to be brought into contact with human skin for the sole or primary purpose of protecting against UV radiation by absorbing, scattering or reflecting the radiation.
• Fragrances are simply natural or synthetic substances used to give a pleasant smell to a cosmetic product or the body.
• A nanomaterial is an insoluble or biopersistent material intentionally produced with one or more external dimensions or internal structures on the scale of 1 to 100 nm.
• Preservatives are substances designed solely or primarily to inhibit the growth of microorganisms in the cosmetic product.
• A colorant is a substance that can be added to a cosmetic product to color the entire body or a specific part of the body, by absorbing or reflecting visible light. Precursors of oxidative hair dyes are considered colorants.
• A UV filter is a substance specifically or primarily designed to protect the skin against certain types of UV radiation by absorbing, reflecting or scattering UV radiation.
• Impurities are usually minor components of a substance or raw material and can arise from:
  • The components themselves
  • Production processes
  • Chemical synthesis or interaction within the product that may occur under normal storage conditions
  • Potential migration from final packaging to product
  • Potential chemical changes resulting from instability of the product in contact with the final packaging.
• Contaminants are unwanted substances that can originate from sources outside the chemical pathway, from chemical processes, from unexpected situations such as poor storage of primary substances or instability of primary packaging.
• Manufacturer means any natural or legal person who produces a cosmetic product or has such a product designed or manufactured and markets this cosmetic product under its own name or trademark.
• Making available on the market means the supply of any cosmetic products for consumption or use in the Gulf market within the scope of a commercial activity, whether for payment or free of charge, and the distribution of such products.
• Single-application products are products that are intended to be used only once, immediately after opening.
• Free samples are products that are freely available to the end user.
• Inapplicable packaging products are products for which it is impossible to label information on their packaging or containers for practical reasons.

Among the numerous tests, measurements, analyses and evaluation studies carried out for businesses in various sectors, our organization also provides certification and testing services defined in the “GSO 1943 Cosmetics - Safety requirements for cosmetics and personal care products” standard with its trained and expert staff and advanced technological equipment.