On November 18, 2015, Representative Peter Sessions introduced the Cosmetic Modernization Amendments of 2015 (H.R. 4075) to amend certain provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act ("FD&C Act"). This bill would amend the current definition for "cosmetics," allowing some of the products that are currently considered drugs to fall under the updated cosmetics definition, which states that "an article ... that is intended only for topical external use to alter the appearance by temporarily affecting the structure or any function of the human skin, and that is not the subject of an approved new drug application under section 505, shall, for purposes of this Act, be treated only as a cosmetic and not a drug." This bill is a similar version of previously introduced bills such as the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (H.R. 5786), the Cosmetic Safety Amendments Act of 2012 (H.R. 4395), the Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013 (H.R. 1385), the Humane Cosmetics Act of 2014 (H.R.4148), and the more recent Personal Care Products Safety Act of 2015 (S. 1014) (see our previous Update).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.