Selling into Canada

Information that the Cosmetic Regulations require on the label of a cosmetic must be shown both in English and in French, with the INCI name the only exception, and no cosmetic may be sold in Canada unless it is labelled in accordance with those Regulations.

This is a packaging cost rather than a filing cost, so it is the rule most likely to be discovered after artwork is approved, and the exemption for INCI names is why an ingredient list can look compliant while the panel beside it is not.

Canada prohibits making a claim on the label of or in an advertisement for a cosmetic that is likely to create an impression that it was not tested on animals unless the person has evidence that no such testing occurred, and requires that evidence to be produced to the Minister on request.

The phrase means nothing in the United States and is a documented, on-demand evidentiary burden two hours north, so a single North American label is a decision about which regime the copy has to survive.

Canada prohibits selling a cosmetic unless its safety can be established without relying on data derived from a test conducted on an animal that could cause pain, suffering or injury, and separately prohibits conducting such a test to meet a cosmetic safety requirement under Canadian law or that of a foreign state.

The second half is the one that travels: a test run abroad to satisfy another country’s cosmetic safety regime is itself prohibited conduct here, so an overseas filing strategy is not neutral in Canada.