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
357 matching recordsZinc oxide (nano)
CAS 1314-13-2
New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 8, reference 30a.
Conditions: Maximum concentration: 25% · Other limitations: Not to be used in applications that may lead to exposure of the end-user's lungs by inhalation Only nanomaterials having the following characteristics are allowed: - Purity: ≥ 96%, with wurtzite crystalline structure and physical appearance as clusters that are rod -like, star-like and/or isometric shapes, with impurities consisting only of carbon dioxide and water, whilst any other impurities are less than 1% in total - Median diameter of the particle number size distribution D50 (50% of the number below this diameter): > 30 nm and D1: (1% below this size) > 20 nm - Water solubility: < 50 mg/L - Uncoated, or coated with: triethoxycaprylylsilane, dimethicone, dimethoxydiphenylsilanetriethoxycaprylylsilane cross-polymer, or octyl triethoxy silane
Source:Schedule 8, reference 30a, source row 37 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30
[4-[[4-Anilino-1-naphthyl][4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]methylene]cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene]dimethylammonium chloride (Basic Blue 26)
CAS 2580-56-5
New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 6, reference 69.
Conditions: Colour index: 44045 · CAS: 2580-56-5 · Colour: Blue · Product scope: Not to be used in products applied on mucous membranes
Source:Schedule 6, reference 69, source row 71 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30
alpha-(2-Oxoborn-3-ylidene)-toluene-4-sulfonic acid and its salts (benzylidene camphor sulfonic acid)
CAS 56039-58-8
New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 8, reference 9.
Conditions: Maximum concentration: 6% (expressed as acid)
Source:Schedule 8, reference 9, source row 11 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30
beta-Carotene
CAS 7235-40-7 · EC 230-636-6
New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 6, reference 55.
Conditions: Colour index: 40800 · CAS: 7235-40-7 · Colour: Orange · Other limitations: E 160a
Source:Schedule 6, reference 55, source row 57 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30
e.g. 3-Acetyl-6-methylpyran-2,4(3H)-dione (dehydroacetic acid) and its salts e.g. sodium dehydroacetate dehydroacetate
CAS 4418-26-2 · EC 224-580-1
New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 7, reference 13.
Conditions: Maximum concentration: 0.6% (acid) · Other limitations: Not to be used in aerosol dispensers (sprays)
Source:Schedule 7, reference 13, source row 65 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30
p-Chloro-m-cresol (chlorocresol)
CAS 59-50-7 · EC 200-431-6
New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 7, reference 24.
Conditions: Maximum concentration: 0.2% · Other limitations: Not to be used in products applied on mucous membranes
Source:Schedule 7, reference 24, source row 83 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30
psi,psi-Carotene (lycopene)
CAS 502-65-8
New Zealand Cosmetic Products Group Standard Schedule 6, reference 110.
Conditions: Colour index: 75125 · CAS: 502-65-8 · Colour: Yellow · Other limitations: E 160d
Source:Schedule 6, reference 110, source row 114 · version effective-2026-01-01 · effective Jan. 1, 2026 · source checked 2026-08-30
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
- Search exact identity across Schedules 4–8.
- Apply use, concentration and warning conditions.
- Check hazardous-substance classification and Group Standard scope.
- Confirm the latest legal instrument, not only the spreadsheet.
How New Zealand differs from other markets
Comparing this market's imported rules against every other market's for the same substance. A market with no imported rule for a substance is left out of that comparison rather than treated as permitting it.
A formula cleared elsewhere can fail here.
Permitted here under conditions and prohibited, or more tightly held, elsewhere — so a formula built for this market may not travel.
and 125 more — see the full comparison
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
- Search the ingredient by INCI name, CAS number or EC number and record the exact identity.
- Open each official source above and check the current version, product scope, concentration limits and required warnings.
- Confirm effective dates and whether an English text is official, reviewed or only contextual.
- Treat a missing local match as unknown, never as permission or a safety conclusion.