Can block a launchSouth Korea

Five claims move a product into a different regime

Korea’s Cosmetics Act defines functional cosmetics as a closed list of five effects, and a product sold for any of them must first undergo an examination by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, or have a report submitted to the Minister on its safety and effectiveness, before it may be sold.

The five effects are close to the default vocabulary of Western skincare packaging, so a brand can move a product into a pre-market approval regime by writing one line of front-of-pack copy, without changing the formula or intending to make a regulated claim.

Limits how to read Sunscreen is a drug in the US, not a cosmetic

Exceptions and limits

MechanismThe five effects, as the Act lists them
The listed effects are whitening the skin, improving wrinkles in the skin, tanning skin gently or protecting it from ultraviolet rays, changing or removing the colour of hair or nourishing hair, and preventing or improving dryness, splits, loss or cornification resulting from weakened functions of skin or hair.
Why the claim above is true. It does not limit it. Confidence 93 of 100.
Wrong if Subparagraph 2 of Article 2 is amended so that the enumerated effects differ from these five, or the Prime Ministerial Decree it defers to is shown to narrow or widen any of them.
(a) A product aiding in the whitening of the skin; (b) A product aiding in improving wrinkles in the skin; (c) A product aiding in tanning skin gently or protecting skin from ultraviolet rays; (d) A product aiding in changing or removing the color of hair, or nourishing hair; (e) A product aiding in preventing or improving dryness, splits, loss, cornification resulting from weakened functions of skin or hair;
Cite as omr:kr:five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one#the-five-effects-as-the-act-lists-them
ThresholdExamination only covers the five effects
Examinations of effectiveness are limited to the efficacy and effects listed in the definition of functional cosmetic, so a claim outside those five is neither examined nor approved by this route.
The claim above holds only on one side of this boundary. Confidence 91 of 100.
Wrong if Article 4(2) is amended so that examinations may cover efficacy claims beyond the items in subparagraph 2 of Article 2.
(2) Examinations of effectiveness under paragraph (1) shall be limited to the efficacy and effects provided for in the items of subparagraph 2 of Article 2.
Cite as omr:kr:five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one#examination-only-covers-the-five-effects

95 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 30, 2017A 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

Subparagraph 2 of Article 2 of the Cosmetics Act is amended to add or remove an effect from the list, or Article 4 ceases to require an examination or report before a functional cosmetic may be sold.

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
Korea Ministry of Government Legislation (National Law Information Center): Cosmetics Act (Act No. 20901), English translation
2. The term “functional cosmetic” means any of the following cosmetics prescribed by Prime Ministerial Decree: (a) A product aiding in the whitening of the skin; (b) A product aiding in improving wrinkles in the skin; (c) A product aiding in tanning skin gently or protecting skin from ultraviolet rays; (d) A product aiding in changing or removing the color of hair, or nourishing hair; (e) A product aiding in preventing or improving dryness, splits, loss, cornification resulting from weakened functions of skin or hair;
Read 2026-08-06 · Open government · page hash 92590839801f
Tier Aregulation
Korea Ministry of Government Legislation (National Law Information Center): Cosmetics Act (Act No. 20901), English translation
Article 4 (Examination of functional cosmetics) (1) A cosmetic manufacturer, responsible cosmetic distributor ... or university, research institute prescribed by Prime Ministerial Decree that intends to obtain a recognition of functional cosmetics and engage in the sale of the recognized functional cosmetics shall undergo an examination by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety or shall submit a report to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety on the safety and effectiveness of each product.
Elision marks a parenthetical defining responsible cosmetic distributor by cross-reference to Article 3(1). Nothing operative was removed.
Read 2026-08-06 · Open government · page hash 92590839801f
Tier Aregulation
Korea Ministry of Government Legislation (National Law Information Center): Cosmetics Act (Act No. 20901), English translation
No person shall sell (including act of offering or supplying for the purpose of import agency business) or manufacture, import, store, or display cosmetics for the purpose of selling cosmetics that fall under any of the following subparagraphs: 1. Functional cosmetics that fail to undergo an examination or a report on which has not been submitted, as prescribed in Article 4;
Article 15. This is what makes the examination a gate rather than a formality: without it the product may not be sold, stored or displayed, and the prohibition explicitly reaches import agency.
Read 2026-08-06 · Open government · page hash 92590839801f

History

v1createdAugust 5, 2026
Initial entry from the Korean government's own English translation of the Cosmetics Act, read 2026-08-06 through the National Law Information Center Open API (target=elaw), which flags this text 현행, currently in force. Articles were taken from the publisher's own markup rather than split out of flattened text.
v1createdon a caveatAugust 5, 2026
Initial entry from the Korean government's own English translation of the Cosmetics Act, read 2026-08-06 through the National Law Information Center Open API (target=elaw), which flags this text 현행, currently in force. Articles were taken from the publisher's own markup rather than split out of flattened text.
v1createdon a caveatAugust 5, 2026
Initial entry from the Korean government's own English translation of the Cosmetics Act, read 2026-08-06 through the National Law Information Center Open API (target=elaw), which flags this text 현행, currently in force. Articles were taken from the publisher's own markup rather than split out of flattened text.

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.

kr
korea
functional-cosmetics
claims
classification
market-entry
compliance

Cite this entry

“Five claims move a product into a different regime”, The Orbt Market Index 0.1.0, entry omr:kr:five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one, retrieved September 9, 2026, https://tryorbt.com/markets/entry/kr--five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one. Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22679129

Orbt, "Five claims move a product into a different regime," Orbt Market Index, entry omr:kr:five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one, verified August 6, 2026, https://tryorbt.com/markets/entry/kr--five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one.

@misc{orbt-kr-five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one,
  title        = {Five claims move a product into a different regime},
  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:kr:five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one. Verified 2026-08-06},
  howpublished = {\url{https://tryorbt.com/markets/entry/kr--five-effects-turn-a-cosmetic-into-a-regulated-one}},
  license      = {Orbt Index Public Licence. Free to quote and cite; not to redistribute}
}

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