SFDA Drug Sector held a press conference at its premises this afternoon,, about Cosmetic Products Regulations. The Conference was chaired by H.E Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah Ba Wazeer, V.P for Drug Sector, in the presence of HE Saleh bin Oudah Al Attawi, Legal Advisor and Director of Legal Department and H.E Dr. Hajed bin Hashan, Director of Medical Licenses and H.E General Supervisor of Public Relations Department Mr. Mazin bin Musa Al Ismail and H.E Pharmacist, Mohammad Al Jalal, Director of Cosmetics Department of Drug Sector.
HE the General Supervisor of Public Relations Department opened the conference by welcoming all attending journalists and professionals and delivered a speech in which he said:” On behalf of HE. SFDA President and the Vice President for Drug Sector and my colleagues, I have the pleasure to welcome you at SFDA Drug Sector premises and appreciate your quick response and attendance to this conference, wishing that this conference will be a fruitful cooperation between SFDA represented by its Public Relations Department in serving the Saudi citizens and expatriates health ; which represents the Key purpose for which SFDA was established. In this evening I have the pleasure to dedicate this conference for review and answering your questions about cosmetic products regulations which will be introduced to you by H.E Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah Ba Wazeer, V.P for Drug Sector”

After that, H.E the Vice President for Drug Sector started his speech by giving detailed description of the cosmetic regulations project and reviewed the BoD decisions in its 9th.Session- chaired on behalf of HRH Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense & Aviation, Inspector General and Chairman of SFDA Board of Directors by HRH Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier, Minister of Interior and deputy Chairman of SFDA Board of Directors- about cosmetic regulations draft, developed by SFDA , based on the provisions of paragraph (2) of Article Five of SFDA Regulations, stipulating that SFDA mission includes: ( Reviewing control laws and regulations related to its field of activities and enhancing them by proposing appropriate revisions thereto as well as proposing further laws and regulations in order to meet health quality and safety requirements and forward same to the concerned authorities for review, approval and issuance according to the applicable procedures and methods)

During SFDA revision of its laws and regulations, a need raised for the development of Cosmetic Regulations in the Kingdom to meet safety and security requirements of cosmetics and to be the corner stone for building effective controls to enhance the safety and quality of these products - from production to consumption stage – the vision that Drug Sector is trying to achieve in line with the latest global trends in the field of cosmetic control. Therefore, one of SFDA’s strategic priorities, approved by the BoD, was to develop Cosmetic Regulations for the Kingdom, which will be the first of its kind in the Middle East Region.
The following are highlights on the aspects of the project:
1. The draft Regulations shall be of high level and concise, leaving the details for the bylaws. This trend will allow flexibility and speed in introducing any revisions, whenever necessary, to keep pace with the emerging and accelerating changes in the field of cosmetic products
2. The existing situation in the Kingdom is reviewed and it is found that no regulations exist for these products. The draft Regulations will bridge the gap in Kingdom’s regulations to control cosmetic products
3.The Key objectives of Cosmetic Products Regulations are:
I. Ensure safety and security of cosmetic products in order to protect people’s health
II. Ability to respond to cosmetic products problems
III. Ability to respond to emergencies
IV. Enhance consumer’s confidence in cosmetic products control regulations
V. Eliminate deviations and violations to the safety and security standards of cosmetic products through inclusion of severe punishments in the regulations

4 The Key Characteristics of Cosmetic Products Regulations are:
I. It conforms with international standards and regulations
II. It adopts protective methodology via development of protective monitoring systems
III. It adopts modern practices in determination of commercial business owner’s liability

5. A team including technicians and legislators was formed to review:
I. National Control laws and regulations
II. International cosmetic laws and regulations

6. Assistance was sought from international bodies such as the World Bank, UN Credit Program in addition to SFDA taskforce of technical advisors, and law experts from SFDA and other external entities.

7. Reviewed many international laws when developing the draft cosmetic products regulations, e.g. Consolidated European Cosmetic Products Law, US Food, Drug and Cosmetics Code, Malaysian Cosmetics Code and other laws.

8. Transparency and openness principle was observed during the development of the draft cosmetic regulations, by involvement of the local parties concerned with safety & security of cosmetic products, consumer protection and private sector. Three workshops were organized at Riyadh, Jeddah & Dammam Chambers of Commerce to overview the dimensions of cosmetic products regulations . Upon approval of the draft cosmetic products regulations by SFDA BoD, it will be forwarded to the Council of Ministers for review by its Board of Experts & other respective bodies and then forwarded to Shoura Council for discussion.
9. In this connection, we refer to HRH Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier, Minister of Interior and deputy Chairman of SFDA Board of Directors directions to H.E President of SFDA regarding the importance of speed up forwarding the draft cosmetic regulations in order to issue same as soon as possible to address cosmetic products situation and ensure safety and security of the citizens and residents of the Kingdom and protect them against any hazards that may ensue from cosmetic products.