Skip to main content
CosIng Checker
CosIng Checker
EU cosmetic ingredients, restrictions and safety
Login
NZEnglishOfficial records available

New Zealand cosmetic ingredient regulations

Official group-standard schedules cover prohibited, restricted and positive-list substances.

Regulator
Environmental Protection Authority
Source language
English
Coverage version
Cosmetic Products Group Standard schedules effective 1 January 2026

What this list is

New Zealand regulates cosmetics as hazardous substances. The rules sit in a group standard issued by the Environmental Protection Authority, not in a cosmetics act, and the schedules read differently as a result.

  • 2,913 New Zealand records: 2,166 prohibited, 390 restricted, 357 on a positive list.
  • The instrument is the Cosmetic Products Group Standard, made under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act.
  • The regulator is the Environmental Protection Authority, not a medicines or food agency.
  • Schedules 4 to 8 mirror the EU annex structure closely, which makes the divergences easy to miss.

New Zealand reaches cosmetics through hazardous-substances law. The Cosmetic Products Group Standard, issued under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, sets the conditions under which cosmetic products may be imported or manufactured, and the Environmental Protection Authority administers it. There is no separate cosmetics regulator.

In substance the schedules will look familiar: schedules 4 through 8 are laid out much like the EU annexes, with prohibited substances, restricted substances and positive lists for colourants, preservatives and UV filters. That resemblance is the risk. Because the structure matches, it is easy to assume the contents do, and the group standard is amended on its own schedule by its own authority.

The 2,913 records here carry the status the group standard gives them. Where a substance appears as restricted, the limit and conditions are as written in the schedule; where a substance does not appear, no New Zealand entry was resolved for it, which is not the same as a finding that it may be used.

Checked against

Official ingredient records

2913 matching records
RestrictedBinding ruleOriginal is EnglishOfficial-source import checked

Isoeugenol (2-methoxy-4-(1-methylvinyl)​phenol; phenol, 2-methoxy-4-(1-propenyl))

CAS 97-54-1 · EC 202-590-7

New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 5, reference 73.

Conditions: Product scope: (a) Oral products (b) Other products · Maximum concentration: (b) 0.02% · Other limitations: (a) and (b): The presence of the substance must be indicated in the list of ingredients referred to in Schedule 1, condition 1(2) when its concentration exceeds: 0.001% in leave-on products 0.01% in rinse-off products

Source:Schedule 5, reference 73, source row 100 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30

View full recordIngredient profile
RestrictedBinding ruleOriginal is EnglishOfficial-source import checked

Isoeugenol (2-methoxy-4-(1-methylvinyl)​phenol; phenol, 2-methoxy-4-(1-propenyl))

CAS 5932-68-3

New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 5, reference 73.

Conditions: Product scope: (a) Oral products (b) Other products · Maximum concentration: (b) 0.02% · Other limitations: (a) and (b): The presence of the substance must be indicated in the list of ingredients referred to in Schedule 1, condition 1(2) when its concentration exceeds: 0.001% in leave-on products 0.01% in rinse-off products

Source:Schedule 5, reference 73, source row 101 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30

View full record
Permitted list with conditionsBinding ruleOriginal is EnglishOfficial-source import checked

Lazurite (Pigment Blue 29)

CAS 1302-83-6

New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 6, reference 120.

Conditions: Colour index: 77007 · CAS: 1302-83-6 · Colour: Blue

Source:Schedule 6, reference 120, source row 132 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30

View full record
RestrictedBinding ruleOriginal is EnglishOfficial-source import checked

Linalool (1,6-octadien-3-ol, 3,7-dimethyl-)

CAS 78-70-6 · EC 201-134-4

New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 5, reference 84.

Conditions: Other limitations: The presence of the substance must be indicated in the list of ingredients referred to in Schedule 1, condition 1(2) when its concentration exceeds: 0.001% in leave-on products 0.01% in rinse-off products

Source:Schedule 5, reference 84, source row 112 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30

View full recordIngredient profile
RestrictedBinding ruleOriginal is EnglishOfficial-source import checked

Lithium hydroxide

CAS 1310-65-2 · EC 215-183-4

New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 5, reference 15b.

Conditions: Product scope: (a) Hair straightener (i) General use (ii) Professional use (b) pH adjuster – for depilatories (c) Other uses – as pH adjuster (for rinse-off products only) · Maximum concentration: (a)(i) 2% by weight* · Other limitations: (b) pH value not to exceed pH 12.7 (c) pH value not to exceed pH 11 · Warnings: For ((a)(i)): Contains alkali. Avoid contact with eyes. Can cause blindness. Keep out of reach of children. For ((a)(ii)): For professional use only. Avoid contact with eyes. Can cause blindness. For (b): Contains alkali. Keep out of reach of children. Avoid contact with eyes.

Source:Schedule 5, reference 15b, source row 32 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30

View full recordIngredient profile

Market coverage contract

Complete schedules dataset
Included scope
Schedules 4–8: prohibited, restricted, colourant, preservative and UV-filter entries.
If no match is found
The searchable spreadsheet is an aid; the legal Group Standard and incorporated notices remain authoritative.

Complete verification checklist

  1. Search exact identity across Schedules 4–8.
  2. Apply use, concentration and warning conditions.
  3. Check hazardous-substance classification and Group Standard scope.
  4. Confirm the latest legal instrument, not only the spreadsheet.

Official sources and legal role

New Zealand cosmetic product schedules 4–8

Prohibited and restricted substances, permitted colorants, preservatives and UV filters

Legal meaning: Official EPA group standard schedules; current market-specific rule source

Available language: English

What this market page can answer

Source and authority

Identify the official material and the regulator responsible for it: Environmental Protection Authority.

Language and scope

See whether usable English or bilingual material exists and what the mapped source actually covers. Current source language: English.

Evidence status

Browse ingredient-level records imported from official sources. Each row states whether it passed deterministic source checks or human editorial review.

How to verify an ingredient for this market

  1. Search the ingredient by INCI name, CAS number or EC number and record the exact identity.
  2. Open each official source above and check the current version, product scope, concentration limits and required warnings.
  3. Confirm effective dates and whether an English text is official, reviewed or only contextual.
  4. Treat a missing local match as unknown, never as permission or a safety conclusion.
Screen an INCI listSearch ingredientsReview source methodology