The Report of the Sixth Meeting of the
ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ)
The ASEAN Cosmetic Committee (ACC)
THE ASEAN Cosmetic Scientific Body (ACSB)
06 December 2006,
Bohol, Republic of Philippines
INTRODUCTION
The Sixth Meeting of the ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality
(ACCSQ) ASEAN Cosmetic Committee (ACC) ASEAN Cosmetic Scientific Body
(ACSB) was held on the 06 December 2006, at Bohol, Republic of Philippines.
ACSB MEMBERS PRESENT
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
Mr Chong Chee Kiong
Dr Chhieng Phana
Ms Nam Nivanna
Dr Purwantyastuti
Ms Nuning Barwa
Mr Vongtavanh Chiemsisourath
Mrs Mayphet Phonsima
Ms Anis Talib (Co-Chair)
Ms Hamida B Minhaj
Not present
Dr Celia L Ong
Ms Esperanza Moya
Dr Alain Khaiat
Mrs Narupa Wongpiyarattanakul
Dr Simon Young (Secretary)
Mr Nguyen Van Loi
Mr Nguyen Van Vien
Mr Apinan Rothanavibhata
Mr Tonny Pranatadjaja (Chair)
Indonesia
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
ACA
Introduction of the Meeting by the Chair
The Chairman welcomed the delegates and introduced the objective of the meeting
which was to focus on making progress on clarification of borderline products and
product labelling. The delegates then introduced themselves.
Agenda Item 1 – Adoption of the Minutes and Agenda
The Minutes of the previous meeting were adopted without amendment.
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Agenda Item 2 – Review of Actions from the 6th ACSB Meeting
The secretary reviewed key actions from the previous meeting, all of which were
either completed or on the agenda for completion at this meeting.
Agenda Item 3 – Borderline Products/Claims Guidelines
Borderline Products
As requested by ACC, six borderline product areas were discussed for inclusion in the
ACD Illustrative list. The following proposals to ACC were agreed in the ASEAN
spirit.
Personal lubricant products
Should not be considered to be cosmetics under the ACD as they are normally
intended to come into contact with mucous membranes other than those of the oral
cavity.
Intranasal cleaning products
Should not be considered to be cosmetics under the ACD as they are normally
intended to come into contact with mucous membranes other than those of the oral
cavity.
Slimming products
Products intended to deliver a slimming benefit i.e. a weight loss benefit should not
be considered as cosmetic products. This should be replaced by ‘Body Contouring
Products’ to be consistent with ‘Bust Contouring Products’ already approved for
addition to the Illustrative list by ACC.
Leave-on antimicrobial products
Leave-on products making antimicrobial claims should be considered to be
cosmetics under the ACD provided that they do not contain ingredients restricted at
the levels used or banned. Cosmetic leave-on antimicrobials should not be for use
on broken skin e.g. for wound-cleaning.
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Claim Guidelines
All countries present made comments on the discussion document circulated by the
Secretary (Attachments 1-6). A number of claims areas were identified and discussed
further to ensure common understanding and approach, these were,

Antiseptics
It was agreed that antiseptic claims could be considered to be cosmetic
provided that they were not associated with medical claims e.g. wound
cleansing.

Action at the cellular level
It was agreed that the ‘action at the cellular level’ is a mechanism of action,
not an end benefit. It could be included in cosmetic claims provided that the
product benefit being delivered is cosmetic.

Oil regulation/control
It was agreed that claims in this area could be made by a cosmetic product
provided that no absolute claim is made e.g. ‘stops oil production’ and that
any claimed effect is reversible.

Stress reduction
It was agreed that certain products e.g. aromatherapy products have been
demonstrated to help to reduce stress levels. Although this can be shown
empirically through brain activity scans it is not realistic to expect this type of
data to be produced as claim support. Claims of blood pressure reduction will
not be permitted.

Muscle relaxation
Massage with massage oil can cause muscle relaxation, however this is
primarily due to the massage and such claims should not be permitted for
cosmetic products.
Singapore proposed a simplification of the Claim Guideline circulated, reducing the
number of negative claim categories from one for each entry in the Illustrative list to
one for each area of product application e.g. Skin, Hair, Oral etc. ACA then made a
presentation including a helpful decision-making process to assist regulators and
industry to define whether a product should be classified as a cosmetic under the ACD
by considering three factors,
1. The intended target site
2. The intended use
3. The claims
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Actions to be taken

Secretary to produce a draft proposed Claims Guideline based upon the input
received from all countries and from ACA. The proposal will include the decision
process and an amalgamated and simplified version of the negative claim
examples using the Singapore format as a format guide. To be circulated to
ACSB members by end of January 2007 and refined by ACSB for presentation to
the next ACC meeting.
Agenda Item 4 – Product Labelling
Singapore presented proposals for changes to the ASEAN Cosmetic Labelling
Requirements (Attachment 7). These were discussed and the following proposals
agreed for presentation to ACC
1. Ingredient Labelling
There are 2 paragraphs labeled ‘B’. It is proposed that the paragraph called ‘Scope
and Definition’ will remain as paragraph ‘B’. The second paragraph B ‘Labelling of
Cosmetic Products’ should be changed to paragraph C
C 1 c) Full ingredient listing:
There is currently no provision of the order in which to list. It was agreed to
propose the following to ACC (Following the EU/US models)
‘The ingredients must be declared in descending order of weight at the time they are
added. Perfume and aromatic compositions and their raw materials shall be referred
to by the word “perfume” or “flavour”. Ingredients in concentrations of less than
1% may be listed in any order after those of concentration of more than 1%.
Colouring agents may be listed in any order after the other ingredients, in
accordance with the colour index number or denomination adopted in Annex IV’.
For decorative cosmetic products marketed in several colour shades, all colouring
agents used in the range may be listed, provided that the terms “may contain” be
added
The ingredients shall be specified using the nomenclature from the latest edition of
standard references (Refer to appendix A). Botanicals and extract of botanicals
should be identified by its genius and species. The genus may be abbreviated
C 1 h) manufacturing date or expiry date without further requirements
Current wording of the paragraph requires either manufacturing date or expiry date
for products with shelf lives less than 30 months. This causes a possible issue in
Vietnam where the Consumer Protection Law requires both. This issue could be
addressed either by changing the wording of the paragraph to ‘manufacturing date
and/or expiry date, or by keeping the wording as is and Vietnam invoking Article 11
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of the ACD. After discussion, Vietnam agreed to keep the wording as is and invoke
Article 11.
C 1 j) registration number from the country of origin
It was proposed and agreed that this section be deleted as products will not be
registered under the ACD.
Annexe A - List of Standard References
It was agreed that two Japanese references which no longer exist be deleted.
Actions to be taken

All proposals to be presented to 7th ACC for review and acceptance by ACSB
Chair.
Agenda Item 5 – Hydrogen Peroxide for Tooth-Whitening
Singapore presented a review of the use of hydrogen peroxide at >6% under the
supervision of dentists in ASEAN countries. Generally dentists use products
containing lower levels of H2O2 e.g. Laos 4%, Indonesia 3%. Philippines dentists use
products at >6% which are not classified as cosmetics. The Indonesian Dental
Association indicated that they did not consider consumer products with levels of
H2O2 >0.1 % to be safe.
Actions to be taken
Singapore to modify current H2O2 tooth whitening entry to include use by dentists at
≤6% by next ACSB.
Indonesia to consult with National Dental Association to resolve their concern over
use of H2O2 in tooth-whitening products at ≤ 6% and report back to next ACSB.
Agenda Item 6 – ASEAN Handbook Entries
Summaries of reviews and proposals for each of the 8 ingredients had been
precirculated by designated ACSB members as agreed. Each proposal was
summarised by the secretary and discussed by ACSB members where required.
Proposals were then agreed by unanimous vote in the spirit of ASEAN harmony.
All 20 ingredients were reviewed with the following results
I
II
III
IV
V
AHCI Annexe
Banned List
Restricted List
Colourants
Preservatives
UV Filters
Total
Proposals Agreed
1 ingredient
2 ingredients
1 ingredient
1 ingredient
5 ingredients
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Further Review Required
2 ingredients
1 ingredient
Complete
Complete
Complete
3 ingredients

The proposals are summarised, with specific actions in Attachment 8.
Agenda Item 7 – Workplan for the EU Restricted List
A workplan for review of the updates to the EU Cosmetic Directive restricted
ingredients list was proposed and agreed.
Actions to be taken






Secretary to distribute review forms to ACSB members by 15 December 2006
ACSB Members to return completed forms to Secretary by 31 March 2007
Completed forms to be circulated to ACSB by 06 April 2007
Feedback on reviews (Agree/Disagree/Discuss) to Secretary by 18 May 2007
Discussion and preparation of proposals for 8th ACC in June 2007
The ASEAN Ingredient annexes will be updated following endorsement by the
ACC. The new versions will be rearranged into alphabetical order by INCI name.
EU reference numbers will be retained in the interests of clarity by the Secretary
by end January 2007.
Agenda Item 8 –Fluoride levels in Oral Care
ACSB Members consulted with National Dental Associations and Ministries of
Health in all ASEAN countries to assess the status of fluorosis. This was discussed
and the following proposal agreed. Thailand and Cambodia will permit fluoride in
oral care products to a maximum level of 1100ppm due to National safety concerns
under Article 11 of the ACD. All other countries present will adopt the ACD limit of
1500ppm.
Actions to be taken
Secretary to contact Myanmar to inform them of decision and request their opinion.
Agenda Item 9 – AOB
Item 1 – ASEAN Microbiological Limits
ACA Raised the fact that an error had been present in the previous limits proposed.
Actions to be taken
A small working group (ACA, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia) to
review the ASEAN and international limits, test methods and reference standards and
make a recommendation to the next ACSB Meeting
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Item 2 – Editorial Process
It was agreed that any errors detected in the ACD ingredient lists or technical
annexes/appendices will be sent to the Secretary for correction and communication.
Editorial process will become a fixed item on the agenda of future ACSB meetings.
Corrected versions will be presented to ACC for approval.
Agenda Item 10 - Next Meeting
The next meeting of the ACSB will be held back to back prior to the next meeting of
the ACC.
Agenda Item 11 – Close
The Chairman then summarised the meeting and thanked the ACSB members, ACA,
and observers for their valuable inputs, comments and attention. The Chair and all
present expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the host country for their
arrangements and warm hospitality before the meeting was closed by the Chair.
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