Cosmetics in the UK: OPSS, SCPN and what it publishes

• In Great Britain cosmetics are governed by the UK Cosmetics Regulation: Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 retained after Brexit and amended by SI 2019/696. OPSS (the Office for Product Safety and Standards, Department for Business and Trade) is the national regulator; the competent authority is the Secretary of State together with local Trading Standards. Northern Ireland stays under the EU regulation.
• Products are notified not in the CPNP but in the SCPN, and a Responsible Person established in the UK is required. Failing to notify can mean a fine and up to three months in prison.
• OPSS publishes recalls on gov.uk (with an open API), an annual report of the Product Safety Database in which cosmetics are the most notified category, and the opinions of SAG-CS, the UK counterpart of the SCCS. And the annexes already diverge from the EU's: nine Statutory Instruments since 2021. This guide links every official source.

Quotations are verbatim from the official UK pages linked; legislation quotes follow the consolidated text on legislation.gov.uk.

1. Who regulates cosmetics in the United Kingdom?

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is part of the Department for Business and Trade and describes itself as "the UK's national product regulator": it was created in January 2018 and is responsible for the regulation of most consumer goods excluding food, medicines and vehicles. Cosmetics fall within that remit: per the guidance on making cosmetic products available in Great Britain, "Before a cosmetic product is made available in GB, the Responsible Person must submit information on the cosmetic product to OPSS."

But OPSS is not the only authority, and this is worth understanding before you write to anyone. The statutory guidance for Great Britain (updated 29 June 2026) sets it out: "The "competent authority" and the "enforcement authorities" are the Secretary of State, and local authority trading standards in England and Wales and Scotland (local weights and measures authorities)." The basis is the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013: regulation 2 defines "enforcement authority" as the Secretary of State or a local weights and measures authority, and regulation 4 makes both of them the competent authorities for the purposes of the Cosmetics Regulation.

For Northern Ireland the corresponding statutory guidance is explicit: "The Secretary of State, and NI District Councils act as the competent authority. NI District Councils are the enforcement authorities."

How that works in practice: OPSS supports local authorities — "OPSS provides advice and support to help local authorities regulate consumer product safety" — and the statutory guidance itself sends businesses that need advice to the Trading Standards department of their local authority. If you come from the Spanish or French model, where an agency or a directorate-general concentrates surveillance, here the first point of contact is municipal.

2. Which law applies? The UK Cosmetics Regulation

The UK did not write a new law. It retained Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 and adapted it through the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, whose Schedule 34 is titled "Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 and related amendments". OPSS's guidance says it in those words: it is guidance to support understanding of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 "as amended by the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019".

The consolidated text lives on legislation.gov.uk, with its own currency banner: the regulation "is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 09 September 2026". The visible difference is in every article that used to refer to the Commission or to the competent authority of the Member State. Article 13 of the UK text requires that, before placing a cosmetic product on the market, the responsible person "must submit by electronic means the following information to the Secretary of State". If you need a refresher on the original regulation, we have a complete guide to Regulation 1223/2009.

Northern Ireland is a different regime. Under the Windsor Framework, the NI statutory guidance explains that it applies the European Union's Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 "as it applies in NI under the terms of the Windsor Framework", because Northern Ireland "aligns with relevant EU rules (in Annex 2) relating to the placing on the market of manufactured goods". Qualifying Northern Ireland goods can be sold in Great Britain made to EU rules and without additional approvals — but Northern Ireland Responsible Persons must still notify the GB regulator through the SCPN.

3. What is the SCPN?

Submit Cosmetic Product Notifications (SCPN) is the replacement for the CPNP in Great Britain. The statutory guidance describes it as the service the UK Government established "to replace the EU's Cosmetics Products Notification Portal (the 'CPNP') in Great Britain". The gov.uk page is blunt: if you are making cosmetic products available to consumers in Great Britain, "you must notify your cosmetic products using the Submit cosmetic product notifications service".

Three things you need to know:

• The Responsible Person must be established in the UK. The SCPN guidance requires it ("A responsible person, who must be established in the UK") and the marketing guidance adds that "A Responsible Person must have a UK established address to make cosmetic products available in GB." The detail on the dual EU/UK Responsible Person and on labelling is in the guide to selling cosmetics in the UK.
• Northern Ireland goes through the CPNP. "For goods placed on the Northern Ireland market or the EEA market, the Responsible Person must notify the EU Portal (the CPNP)."
• Not notifying is an offence. The service start page warns on its front page: "You may face a fine and a prison term of up to 3 months if you do not notify OPSS about a cosmetic product."

On volume, OPSS published data on 17 July 2026: the SCPN was launched in December 2020 and, "As of 28 May 2026 there have been 861,686 notifications to the SCPN system since it launched", submitted by 24,112 registered Responsible Persons. In 2025-26, per the OPSS Delivery Report, there were 325,496 notifications, "an 11% increase on the 293,137 notifications the previous year".

4. What does OPSS publish, and how often?

Unlike AEMPS or the DGCCRF, OPSS does not gather what it publishes about cosmetics in a section of its own: it is spread across cross-cutting gov.uk surfaces, and you need to know where to look:

Three rows deserve detail.

Recalls on gov.uk: the surface that matters

The alerts and recalls listing is cross-cutting for all consumer products, but the "Cosmetics" filter turns it into a dedicated surface. Each item carries its Product Safety Database reference, the type (alert, safety report or recall), the risk level and the hazard. The most recent is a recall for microbiological contamination: "It has been identified that affected batches may be microbiologically contaminated, which may cause eye inflammation."

The pattern that repeats across cosmetics items is skin-lightening creams with prohibited substances. The product safety report on Cocopulp Skin Lightening Cream, dated 8 August 2024 with risk level "Serious", sums it up in one line: "The cream was found to contain 4.7% w/w hydroquinone". It is not an isolated case: between 2023 and 2024 OPSS published similar reports on Caro White, Jaina Beauty, B.B.Clear, Stay Young and Skin Light, all for prohibited substances presenting a serious chemical risk. And for 2025-26 the OPSS Delivery Report documents a review of notifications "to identify products containing lilial (a banned substance)", with engagement with Responsible Persons to assess compliance.

What sets this surface apart from those we have reviewed in other countries is that gov.uk exposes the whole listing through an API: the search endpoint accepts the cosmetics category filter and returns title, link, date, description, category, risk level and alert type; and the content API for each item includes metadata such as the recall date and the type of measure (recall from end users, withdrawal from the market). A regulatory team can query it without scraping HTML.

SAG-CS: the UK's SCCS

The Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety of Non-Food and Non-Medicinal Consumer Products (SAG-CS) is the group that, after Brexit, occupies the place the SCCS holds in the EU. Its gov.uk page defines it as the group that "assesses and advises on chemical and biological risks to humans", and clarifies its nature: "The SAG-CS is a scientific advisory group established in its present form in 2021 and has no regulatory status. However, it provides advice to OPSS that does have a regulatory role."

Two features matter to anyone selling in both markets. First, methodologically it has not split away: "Soon after their inception, the SAG-CS agreed to follow the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (SCCS) Notes of Guidance (NoG) in the short to medium term". Second, its rhythm: "The SAG-CS is expected to meet five times a year although additional meetings may be arranged based on requirements", and it already has 26 numbered opinions, 22 of which deal with substances in cosmetics; the most recent is Opinion 26 on silver in cosmetic products. When OPSS amends the UK annexes, it cites SAG-CS as the basis — see section 7.

The Product Safety Database annual report

It is official statistics, not a sector report, but the 2025-26 report (27 August 2026) has one figure every regulatory affairs manager should know: "Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, a total of 2,396 notifications were received on the PSD, covering 3,368 notified products", and "The most frequently notified product category on the PSD was cosmetics, personal care and grooming, accounting for 833 notified products (25%), followed by toys (732 products, 22%)". Cosmetics are the most notified product category in the United Kingdom. For its part, the OPSS Delivery Report for the same year records that "We also triaged 115 serious undesirable effect notifications in relation to cosmetics."

5. How do you report a serious undesirable effect (SUE) in Great Britain?

Article 23 of the UK text keeps the EU regulation's obligation with the recipient changed: in the event of serious undesirable effects, the responsible person and distributors "shall without delay notify the following to the Secretary of State" (the substitution was made by SI 2019/696, Schedule 34). OPSS's SUE guidance defines what counts: "A 'serious undesirable effect' (SUE) is one in which the normal or reasonably foreseeable use of a cosmetic results in temporary or permanent functional incapacity, disability, hospitalisation, congenital anomalies or an immediate vital risk or death."

One practical difference from the continent: the official channel for businesses is a mailbox with forms, not a portal. And if you need help filling them in, the statutory guidance sends you back to the local level: "please contact your local Trading Standards or contact the relevant primary authority". If you are a Responsible Person, Article 23 is one more of your obligations; we have all of them in the Responsible Person checklist.

6. How do you know whether a cosmetic has been recalled in the UK?

The surface is the gov.uk Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls listing with the cosmetics filter, and for those who want to automate, the search API or the Atom feed.

And here is the structural difference from any Member State: a recall decided in Great Britain does not appear in Safety Gate. The Safety Gate alerts search only offers "United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland" as a notifying country; for England, Wales and Scotland there is no value. In Spain or France, part of the national measures reach Safety Gate when they are notified to the EU; in Great Britain, by design, none do. If you watch the British market only through Safety Gate, you see none of it. We have a complete guide to Safety Gate for cosmetics.

And a third thing that is not a recall surface: the CPNP. In Great Britain it is not even the notification portal — that is the SCPN; in Northern Ireland it is, but it is run by the Commission and publishes no recalls. If you need the detail, we have a CPNP guide.

7. Where does Great Britain already diverge from the EU?

The legislation.gov.uk changes table for the retained Regulation 1223/2009 lists fourteen UK Statutory Instruments that have amended it since 2019. Nine of them, since 2021, touch the substance annexes:

The annex structure is the same as in the EU, but the dates are not. Four cases in which Great Britain adopted the same measure as the EU, each on its own calendar:

In the first case Great Britain arrived about three years later; in the last, one day earlier. There is no rule for the lag: each substance follows its own calendar, which is why the British date has to be checked in its SI, not inferred from the European one.

Great Britain also moves on its own. As early as April 2022, OPSS announced changes to amend Annex 2 "to prohibit the use of deoxyarbutin", and made the mechanism clear: "The Government has considered the advice of SAG-CS regarding the above chemicals in these opinions." SI 2024/1334 quotes SAG-CS on kojic acid — "there is a potential risk to human health from its use" — and SI 2025/413 is adopted "in accordance with advice from the Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety of Non-Food and Non-Medicinal Consumer Products". It is the SAG-CS → OPSS → Statutory Instrument chain, parallel to the SCCS → Commission → regulation chain we describe in the CMR substances guide.

A practical warning: the BD-API CosIng search reflects the European Union annexes, not the British ones. For an ingredient you sell in Great Britain, the status it returns is the starting point, not the answer.

8. How BD-API handles this

Let us be clear: BD-API does not monitor UK sources today — not OPSS, not the gov.uk recalls, not SAG-CS, not legislation.gov.uk. What we watch is the European layer: SCCS, EUR-Lex, ECHA, IFRA, ePing and Safety Gate. Each source is described on our Regulatory Watch page. And, as you have just read, Safety Gate does not cover Great Britain.

For the British layer, the guide you have just read is, for now, your tool: the gov.uk recalls listing and its API, the annual PSD report, the SAG-CS opinions and the legislation.gov.uk changes table, at the official URLs above. And we are preparing something more: a bulletin with the measures published by national authorities — OPSS, the DGCCRF, AEMPS and their counterparts across the EU. If you want it when it is out, leave your email here.

9. Frequently asked questions

What is OPSS? The Office for Product Safety and Standards, the UK's national product regulator, within the Department for Business and Trade. It was created in January 2018 and regulates most consumer goods, excluding food, medicines and vehicles.

Does OPSS regulate cosmetics? Yes, in Great Britain: it receives SCPN notifications and serious undesirable effects, publishes recalls and amends the annexes on the advice of SAG-CS. But the formal competent authority is the Secretary of State together with local Trading Standards, who carry out inspections. In Northern Ireland, the district councils.

What is the SCPN? Submit Cosmetic Product Notifications, the cosmetics notification service for Great Britain, launched in December 2020 to replace the CPNP. It is mandatory before placing products on the market and requires a Responsible Person established in the UK. Failing to notify can mean a fine and up to three months in prison.

Do I have to notify in both the CPNP and the SCPN? It depends on the market. Great Britain: SCPN. Northern Ireland and the EU: CPNP. A company selling in both notifies in both.

What is SAG-CS? The Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety of Non-Food and Non-Medicinal Consumer Products: the scientific group that advises OPSS on substances, the counterpart of the EU's SCCS, whose Notes of Guidance it follows. It has no regulatory status. It has published 26 opinions, 22 of them on cosmetics.

Where can I see cosmetics recalls in the UK? In the gov.uk Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls listing, filtered by the "Cosmetics" category. Each item carries a PSD reference, an alert type and a risk level, and the listing can be queried through an API.

Do British recalls appear in Safety Gate? Those from Great Britain do not: Safety Gate only offers "United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland" as a notifying country. A recall in England, Wales or Scotland is only visible on gov.uk.

How do you report a serious undesirable effect in Great Britain? The responsible person or distributor emails the SUE forms to seriousundesirableeffects@businessandtrade.gov.uk, "without delay", which in UK practice means within 30 calendar days. Consumers go to Citizens Advice, Advice Direct Scotland or their district council.

Are the UK annexes the same as the EU's? Not any more. Since 2021, nine Statutory Instruments have amended the British annexes, sometimes following the EU with a lag (benzophenone-3, 4-MBC, methyl salicylate) and sometimes on the UK's own initiative (deoxyarbutin). The British date for each substance has to be checked in its SI.

10. In short

In the United Kingdom there is no cosmetics agency to write to: there is a national regulator (OPSS), a Secretary of State and a network of local Trading Standards that share the status of competent authority, with the latter doing the inspecting. Products are notified in the SCPN, serious effects go by email with a form, recalls are published on gov.uk — with an API — and substances are assessed by SAG-CS before becoming a Statutory Instrument. And none of it passes through Safety Gate.

What lands in the European sources, BD-API watches for you. What stays in Great Britain, you now know where it is, who publishes it and how often.