(1) No cosmetic shall be imported into India unless the product has been registered in accordance with these rules by the Central Licensing Authority or by any officer to whom such powers may be delegated under sub-rule (1) of rule 5.

(2) An application for registration of a cosmetic product intended to be imported into India shall be

made through the online portal of the Central Government in Form COS-1 either by the manufacturer

himself or by his authorised agent or the importer in India or by the subsidiary in India authorised by the manufacturer.

(3) An authorisation by the manufacturer to his agent in India shall be duly authenticated either in India before a first-class Magistrate or in the country of origin before the authority competent under the laws of that country or by an authority specified in the First Schedule.

(4) The applicant referred to sub-rule (2) above shall furnish along with the application such other

information and documents as specified in Part I of the Second Schedule: Provided also that in the event of application for import of bulk finished formulation ready to fill, the following additional documents shall also required to be furnished:

(i) a valid manufacturing license for the finished formulation of the cosmetic ready to fill in finished

form from the State Licensing Authority; and

(ii) details of registered brand owner of the finished product in India.

(5) The application for registration in accordance with sub-rule (2) shall be accompanied by a copy of

the receipt of fee having been deposited as specified in Third Schedule.

(6) The fee shall be such for each category of cosmetic along with each manufacturing site with

additional fee for each category of cosmetic and variant specified in the Fourth Schedule.

(7) Till such time, the online portal becomes operational for this purpose, offline application in Form

COS- 1 may be made either by the manufacturer himself or by his authorised agent or by the importer in India or by the subsidiary in India authorised by the manufacturer for registration of a cosmetic referred to in sub-rule (1).

(8) The applicant shall be liable to pay testing fees directly to the testing Laboratory approved by the

Central Government referred in rule 11, for examination, test and analysis of imported cosmetics in

respect of cosmetics identified for such examination as specified in the Fifth Schedule.

(9) The applicant shall pay the fee as specified in the Third Schedule in connection with the expenditure to be incurred for inspecting or visiting the manufacturing premises of cosmetics approved in the foreign countries by officers authorised by Central Licensing Authority, as considered necessary.

 Grant of import registration certificate﹘

(1) After examination of documents furnished with the application under sub-rule (2) of rule 12 the Central Licensing Authority may, on being satisfied, grant import registration certificate in Form COS- 2 or may reject such application for which reasons shall be recorded in writing within a period of six months from the date of application.

(2) In the event of rejection, the applicant may appeal to the Central Government within a period of

forty-five days and that Government, may, after such enquiry into the matter, as considered necessary,

pass orders in relation thereto within a period of ninety days from the date of appeal.

(3) In case of a new cosmetic, the applicant shall obtain prior permission in Form COS- 3 as provided in Chapter V from the Central Licensing Authority before registration of import of new cosmetic into

India.

(4) A single application may be made and a single registration certificate in Form COS-2 may be issued in respect of import of one or more cosmetics manufactured by the same manufacturer: Provided that the cosmetics are manufactured at one factory or more than one factory functioning conjointly as a single manufacturing unit for cosmetic intended for registration.

(5) A fee as specified in the Third Schedule shall be paid for a duplicate copy of the registration

certificate, if the original is defaced, damaged or lost.

Validity of import registration certificate﹘

(1) A registration certificate granted under rule 13 shall remain valid in perpetuity, subject to payment of registration certificate retention fee as specified in the Third Schedule before completion of the period of five years from the date of its issue, unless, it is suspended or cancelled by the Licensing Authority.

(2) If the licensee fails to pay the required registration certificate retention fee on or before the due date as referred to in sub-rule (1), the registration certificate holder shall, in addition to the registration

certificate retention fee, be liable to pay a late fee calculated at the rate of two per cent. of the

registration certificate retention fee for every month or part thereof within one hundred and eighty days and in the event of non-payment of such fee during that period, the registration certificate shall be deemed to have been cancelled.

Fresh application in case of change in constitution﹘

(1) In case of change in constitution of a registration holder or overseas manufacturer, after grant of registration under sub-rule (1) of rule 13, an application shall be made under sub-rule (2) of rule 12 for grant of fresh registration within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date of such change in constitution: Provided that the existing registration shall be deemed to be valid till such time, fresh registration is issued or application is rejected by the Central Licensing Authority.

(2) In case of any change in respect of labelling or composition or testing of registered product or its

specifications, the Central Licensing Authority shall be informed by manufacturer or by the authorised agent or the importer or the subsidiary in India authorised by the manufacturer within fifteen days along with an undertaking that products comply with standards laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards as referred in the Ninth Schedule.

(3) In case of change in name or address of a registration holder or overseas manufacturer, after grant of registration under sub-rule (1) of rule 13, an application for amendment shall be made in online portal of Central Government for prior approval from the Central Licensing Authority for the said changes in registration certificate within a period of sixty days from the date of such change.

 Suspension and cancellation of Registration Certificate﹘

If the manufacturer or authorised agent or importer fails to comply with any of the conditions of the Registration Certificate, the Central Licensing Authority may, after giving him an opportunity to show cause as to why such an order should not be passed, by an order in writing, stating the reasons therefore, suspend or cancel the registration certificate for such period as it thinks fit either wholly or in respect of some of the cosmetics to which it relates: Provided that a person who is aggrieved by the order passed by the Central Licensing Authority may, within thirty days of the receipt of the order, appeal to the Central Government and that Government may, after such enquiry into the matter as it considers necessary and after giving the said appellant an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders as considered appropriate in the facts and circumstances of the case.

Import of cosmetics already registered for import-

  (1) A cosmetic manufactured in a foreign site and already registered under rule 13 for import and sale in India, may be imported by any person or entity by making an application in online portal of the Central Government in Form COS-4 with an undertaking as specified in Sixth Schedule.

(2) After examination of documents furnished with the application under sub-rule (1), the Central

Licensing Authority may, on being satisfied, subject to the conditions, grant import registration number in Form COS- 4A, or may reject such application for which reasons shall be recorded in writing within a period of six months from the date of application.

(3) An import registration number granted under sub-rule (2) shall remain valid for a period of three

years from the date of its issue, unless it is suspended or cancelled.

(4) If the importer fails to comply with any of the conditions of the Import Registration Number issued in Form COS-4A, the Central Licensing Authority may, after giving him an opportunity to show cause as to why such an order should not be passed, by an order in writing, stating the reasons therefore, suspend or cancel the import registration number for such period as it thinks fit.

Procedure for import of cosmetics﹘

(1) If the officer appointed at the port of entry by the Central Government has reason to believe that any cosmetic contravenes any of the provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder, he may take sample of the cosmetic from the consignment for inspection.

(2) If on examination of the sample drawn as per sub-rule (1) defects are noticed, the officer shall advise the Commissioner of Customs about further action to be taken.

(3) If the suspected contravention of the provisions of the Act or the rules is such as may have to be

determined by test, the officer shall send the sample to the Laboratory established for the purpose for

performing such tests and the consignment of the said cosmetic shall be detained till such time, the test report on that sample is received from the Director of the said Laboratory or any other officer of the Laboratory empowered by him in this behalf: Provided that if the importer gives an undertaking in writing not to dispose of the cosmetic without the consent of the Commissioner of Customs and to return the consignment or such portion thereof as may be required, the Commissioner of Customs may, make over the consignment to the importer.

(4) If the importer who has given an undertaking under proviso to sub-rule (1) is required by the

Commissioner of Customs to return the consignment or portion thereof, he shall return the consignment or portion thereof within ten days of receipt of the notice.

(5) If the Director of the Laboratory established for the purpose by the Central Government or any other officer of the laboratory empowered by him in this behalf with the approval of the Central Government, reports to the Commissioner of Customs or to the officer mentioned in sub-rule (1) that the sample of any cosmetic in a consignment contravenes provisions of Chapter III of the Act or rules made thereunder and that the contravention is such that it cannot be remedied by the importer, the Commissioner of Customs shall communicate the report forthwith to the importer who shall within two months of receiving such communication either send back all the cosmetic of that description in the consignment to the country in which it was manufactured or to the country from which it was imported or hand it over to the Central Government which shall cause it to be destroyed: Provided that the importer may, within thirty days of receipt of the report, make a representation against the report to the Commissioner of Customs who shall forward the representation with a fresh sample of the cosmetic to the Central Licensing Authority, who shall if necessary, after obtaining the report of the Director of the Central Cosmetics Laboratory, pass orders thereon which shall be final.

(6) If the Central Licensing Authority or any other officer empowered by the said authority in this behalf with the approval of the Central Government, reports to the Commissioner of Customs after inspection of the sample of the cosmetic and where necessary, after obtaining a test report thereon, that the sample of the said cosmetic contravenes any provision of the Act or the rules made thereunder and that contravention is such that it can be remedied by the importer, the Commissioner of Customs shall communicate the report forthwith to the importer and permit him to import the cosmetic on his giving an undertaking in writing not to dispose of the cosmetic without the permission of the officer authorised in this behalf by the Central Government.