As previously reported, Brazil submitted a notification to the World Trade Organization’s Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) Committee regarding the labelling of cosmetics and personal care products. The notification requires that the list of ingredients on a product’s label must be in the Portuguese language rather than solely identified by the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI).
CA’s industry colleagues in Brazil fully support the use of INCI without translation to Portuguese and have sought the assistance of their fellow industry associations to have the matter raised and pursued with their government. Many countries have already expressed concerns directly to Brazilian officials including Global Affairs Canada and Cosmetics Alliance. However, the International Association Collaboration (IAC) – representing 24 trade association from around the world – came together to prepare and issue a position paper on the importance of INCI and the reasons why additional languages on a product label is not required.
IAC’s position can be found HERE and is a good resource to leverage if members are challenged to translate ingredient labelling on products they export.
