Slows you downAustralia

Australia accepts English ingredient names

The Consumer Goods (Cosmetics) Information Standard 2020 requires the names of ingredients on a cosmetic product to be either their English names or their International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient names, and permits an additional list in another language.

A pack built for the European Union, where the INCI name is the only permitted form, already satisfies Australia, so the artwork travels in that direction and not the other, which is the cheaper way round to sequence a launch.

Exceptions and limits

MechanismUnder one per cent, the order stops mattering
Ingredients must be listed in descending order by volume or mass, but as an alternative the list may put ingredients at concentrations of one per cent or more in descending order, then ingredients below one per cent in any order, then colour additives in any order.
Why the claim above is true. It does not limit it. Confidence 92 of 100.
Wrong if Subsection 7(2) of the Information Standard is repealed, or the one per cent threshold is changed, so that strict descending order becomes the only permitted sequence.
(2) As an alternative to subsection (1), the ingredients may be listed in the following order: (a) ingredients (except colour additives) in concentrations of 1% or more—in descending order by volume or mass; (b) ingredients (except colour additives) in concentrations of less than 1%—in any order; (c) colour additives—in any order.
Cite as omr:au:ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english#under-one-per-cent-the-order-stops-mattering
LoopholeA trade secret can be hidden, by a Minister’s instrument
On request from a manufacturer or importer, the Minister may by notifiable instrument permit an ingredient to be shown as an “other ingredient” instead of by name and quantity, where revealing the name would prejudice a trade secret and the ingredient is unlikely to be harmful to a consumer.
An observed, legitimate route around the claim above. Confidence 90 of 100.
Wrong if Section 9 of the Information Standard is repealed, or the permission ceases to require a notifiable instrument, or the harm test is dropped.
On the request of the manufacturer or importer of a cosmetic product, the Minister may, by notifiable instrument, give permission for an ingredient in the product to be shown in a list of the ingredients in the product as an “other ingredient” (instead of by name and volume or mass) if the Minister is satisfied: (a) that revealing the name of the ingredient would prejudice a trade secret; and (b) that inclusion of the ingredient in the product is unlikely to be harmful to a consumer.
Cite as omr:au:ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english#a-trade-secret-can-be-hidden-by-a-minister-s-instrument

93 of a possible 97Tier A, primary document or measured outcome. Nothing at this tier is allowed past 97, however good it looks.

Verified August 6, 2026Rechecked every 365 days, next by August 6, 2027.

Constraint

Held since May 23, 2021A rule, law or policy that limits what you may do or say. The earliest date we are willing to say this held. It may well have been true before that; we do not backdate a record past the evidence we have read. Supported, version 1.

This entry is wrong if

Subsection 8(2) of the Information Standard is amended to require INCI names only, or Australia adopts a nomenclature requirement that excludes English common names.

Written before the record was published, not after. If you can show this, send it to hello@tryorbt.com and the correction goes on the record with the entry.

Evidence

Tier Aregulation
Office of Parliamentary Counsel (Federal Register of Legislation): Consumer Goods (Cosmetics) Information Standard 2020 (F2020L01469)
8 Form of ingredients list (1) A list of ingredients must be: (a) prominently shown; and (b) clearly legible. (2) The names of the ingredients in the list must be either their English names or their International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient names. (3) There may also be a list of ingredients in another language.
Read 2026-08-06 · Open government · page hash 16b19f3e5a9b

History

v1createdAugust 5, 2026
Initial entry from primary legislation, read 2026-08-06. Titles resolved through the Federal Register of Legislation's catalogue API, which reports in-force status; the text comes from the Register's unpacked EPUB at the dated version path, because the document pages are a JavaScript shell and the `/latest/` alias silently serves part one of any multi-part Act.
v1createdon a caveatAugust 5, 2026
Initial entry from primary legislation, read 2026-08-06. Titles resolved through the Federal Register of Legislation's catalogue API, which reports in-force status; the text comes from the Register's unpacked EPUB at the dated version path, because the document pages are a JavaScript shell and the `/latest/` alias silently serves part one of any multi-part Act.
v1createdon a caveatAugust 5, 2026
Initial entry from primary legislation, read 2026-08-06. Titles resolved through the Federal Register of Legislation's catalogue API, which reports in-force status; the text comes from the Register's unpacked EPUB at the dated version path, because the document pages are a JavaScript shell and the `/latest/` alias silently serves part one of any multi-part Act.

Append-only. Nothing in this list is edited or removed once written, including the entries that record our own mistakes. Every change to every record is on the corrections page, and the same log is in entries.json under revisions.

au
labelling
ingredients
inci
packaging
compliance

Cite this entry

“Australia accepts English ingredient names”, The Orbt Market Index 0.1.0, entry omr:au:ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english, retrieved September 9, 2026, https://tryorbt.com/markets/entry/au--ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english. Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22679129

Orbt, "Australia accepts English ingredient names," Orbt Market Index, entry omr:au:ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english, verified August 6, 2026, https://tryorbt.com/markets/entry/au--ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english.

@misc{orbt-au-ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english,
  title        = {Australia accepts English ingredient names},
  author       = {{Orbt}},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22679129},
  note         = {The Orbt Market Index 0.1.0 (dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22679129), entry omr:au:ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english. Verified 2026-08-06},
  howpublished = {\url{https://tryorbt.com/markets/entry/au--ingredient-names-may-be-plain-english}},
  license      = {Orbt Index Public Licence. Free to quote and cite; not to redistribute}
}

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