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SAArabic and EnglishOfficial records available

Saudi Arabia cosmetic ingredient regulations

SFDA publishes dated prohibited and restricted ingredient lists.

Regulator
Saudi Food and Drug Authority
Source language
Arabic and English
Coverage version
SFDA live prohibited/restricted lists, snapshot 30 August 2026

What this list is

Saudi Arabia's prohibited and restricted lists are published by the SFDA and follow the Gulf technical regulation, which tracks the EU annexes closely — closely enough that the differences are easy to overlook.

  • 2,090 Saudi records: 1,726 prohibited, 364 restricted.
  • The regulator is the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.
  • The lists derive from the GSO Gulf technical regulation for cosmetics, which is modelled on EU 1223/2009.
  • Arabic and English are both published; the lists carry their own dates and are amended separately from the EU annexes.

The Saudi lists will read as familiar to anyone who works with the EU annexes, because the Gulf technical regulation they derive from was modelled on Regulation 1223/2009. Substance identification, the prohibited and restricted split, and much of the wording follow the same pattern.

That familiarity is exactly why the differences deserve attention. The SFDA publishes its lists with their own dates and amends them on its own schedule, so alignment with the EU is a starting position rather than a standing guarantee. A substance recently added to Annex II is not thereby prohibited in Saudi Arabia, and a Saudi entry may carry a limit the EU does not.

Product registration is a separate requirement. Cosmetic products need notification to the SFDA before being placed on the market, and that process asks questions this list does not answer.

Both the Arabic and English publications are available. Where they differ, the Arabic is the one a Saudi regulator reads.

Checked against

Official ingredient records

364 matching records

Market coverage contract

Complete official list index
Included scope
Every page and entry in the public SFDA prohibited and restricted ingredient indexes; restricted detail pages remain the source for conditions.
If no match is found
No list match is not permission; Gulf/SFDA product, claim, notification and technical requirements still apply.

Complete verification checklist

  1. Search names and CAS across both SFDA lists.
  2. Open the cited restricted-entry detail and apply every condition.
  3. Check current SFDA/GSO technical regulations and updates.
  4. Complete eCosma notification, label and responsible-party requirements.

How Saudi Arabia 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.

30 substances where Saudi Arabia is stricter than some markets

A formula cleared elsewhere can fail here.

Boric AcidDiethylene GlycolPhenolCatalaseDichloromethaneDihydrocoumarinOxyquinolineThiramZirconium PowderButaneChloropheneFormaldehydeHydroquinoneIsobutaneQUATERNIUM-15Sodium PerborateButylphenyl MethylpropionalCholecalciferolMethylene GlycolSilver NitrateZinc PyrithioneEthylhexyl EthylhexanoateTagetes Erecta Flower ExtractTrimethylbenzoyl Diphenylphosphine Oxide4-METHYLBENZYLIDENE CamphorAmmonium Silver Zinc Aluminum SilicateBenzophenoneCI 77400CI 47005Dihydroxyacetone
75 substances where Saudi Arabia is more permissive than some markets

Permitted here under conditions and prohibited, or more tightly held, elsewhere — so a formula built for this market may not travel.

Methyl Alcohol1-NAPHTHOLBenzoyl PeroxideChloramine THydrogen PeroxideP-HYDROXYANISOLE1,5-NAPHTHALENEDIOL2,7-NAPHTHALENEDIOL2-AMINO-6-CHLORO-4-NITROPHENOL2-METHYLRESORCINOL3-NITRO-P-HYDROXYETHYLAMINOPHENOL4-AMINO-2-HYDROXYTOLUENE4-AMINO-3-NITROPHENOL4-AMINO-M-CRESOLButoxyethanolDichloropheneM-AMINOPHENOLMethyl EugenolNitromethaneP-PHENYLENEDIAMINEPhenyl Methyl PyrazoloneSilver NitrateTalcTOLUENE-2,5-DIAMINE1,3-BIS-(2,4-DIAMINOPHENOXY)PROPANE1-HYDROXYETHYL 4,5-DIAMINO Pyrazole Sulfate2,6-DIAMINOPYRIDINE2,6-DIHYDROXY-3,4-DIMETHYLPYRIDINE2,6-DIHYDROXYETHYLAMINOTOLUENE2-AMINO-3-HYDROXYPYRIDINE2-AMINO-4-HYDROXYETHYLAMINOANISOLE2-CHLORO-6-ETHYLAMINO-4-NITROPHENOL2-HYDROXYETHYL Picramic Acid2-HYDROXYETHYLAMINO-5-NITROANISOLE2-METHYL-5-HYDROXYETHYLAMINOPHENOL3-AMINO-2,4-DICHLOROPHENOL3-METHYLAMINO-4-NITROPHENOXYETHANOL4-HYDROXYPROPYLAMINO-3-NITROPHENOL4-NITRO-O-PHENYLENEDIAMINE4-NITROPHENYL Aminoethylurea

and 35 more — see the full comparison

Official sources and legal role

Saudi SFDA prohibited and restricted ingredient lists

Prohibited and restricted substances with CAS, EC and conditions

Legal meaning: Official SFDA dated lists; version and hash each release

Available language: English

What this market page can answer

Source and authority

Identify the official material and the regulator responsible for it: Saudi Food and Drug Authority.

Language and scope

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