DEAS  377-3: 2021  
ICS 1.100.70  
 
© EAC 2021                                                                                                                              3rd Edition 2021   
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cosmetics and cosmetic products — Part 3: List of colorants, 
preservatives and UV -filters   allowed in cosmetic products  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS  377-3: 2021  
ii © EAC 2021  – All rights  reserved  
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 
participants in the EAC standards development process is permitted without prior permission from EAC, 
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for 
any other purpose without prior written permission from EAC.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpose of selling it should be addressed 
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:  
© East African Community  2021  — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
P.O. Box 1096 , 
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: + 255 27 2 162100  
Fax: + 255 27 2162190  
E-mail: eac@eachq.org  
       Web: www.eac -quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . 
 DEAS  377-3: 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged t hat through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the Nationa l Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards. XXXXXX.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible for this document  is Technical Committee EASC/TC 071, Cosmetics and related 
products. . 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent  rights.  
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition ( EAS 377-1:2013 ), which has been technically 
revised.  
DEAS  377 consists of the following parts, under the general title, Cosmetics and cosmetic products  
Part 1: List of substances prohibited in cosmetic products  
Part 2: List of substances which cosmetic products must not contain except subject to the restrictions laid 
down  
Part 3: List of col orants , preservatives and UV filters allowed in cosmetic products   DEAS  377-3: 2021  
iv © EAC 2021  – All rights  reserved  
 Introduction  
Cosmetic products should be safe under normal or reasonably foreseea ble conditions of use. In particular, a 
risk-benefit reasoning should not justify a risk to human health. The safety of finished cosmetic products can 
already be ensured on the basis of knowledge of the safety of the ingredients that they contain. The Euro pean 
Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetics to which this East African Standard refers, aims at ensuring the 
safety of cosmetics.  
The general principle of the responsibility of the manufacturer or importer for the safety of the product should 
be suppor ted by restrictions of some substances in Annexes II and III of the Regulation. Moreover, 
substances which are intended to be used as colorants, preservatives and UV -filters should be listed in the 
Annexes IV, V and VI respectively of the Regulation in ord er to be allowed for these uses.  
The Regulation relates only to cosmetic products and not to medicinal products, medical devices or biocidal 
products. The delimitation follows in particular from the detailed definition of cosmetic products, which refers 
both to their areas of application and to the purposes of their use.  
The information contained in the annexes II – VI of the Regulation has been developed through risk 
assessment of these substances by the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (SCCS) s et up by 
Commission Decision 2008/721/EC of 5 September 2008 setting up an advisory structure of Scientific 
Committees and experts in the field of consumer safety, public health and the environment.  
Given the hazardous properties of substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction 
(CMR), category 1A, 1B and 2, their use in cosmetic products should be prohibited.  
The safety of cosmetic products and their ingredients may be ensured through the use of alternative methods 
which are n ot necessarily applicable to all uses of chemical ingredients. Therefore, the use of such methods 
by the whole cosmetic industry should be promoted and their adoption at Community level ensured, where 
such methods offer an equivalent level of protection to  consumers.  
Therefore use of alternatives is encouraged where the substances are prohibited and , in the exceptional case 
that these substances comply with food safety requirements, inter alia as a result of their naturally occurring in 
food, and that no suitable alternative substances exist, may be used under prescribed conditions when found 
safe by SCCS in accordance to Annex III.   
To minimise the risk and assure the safety of cosmetic products in the region, EAS 377 -3 has been adapted 
from the EU Dire ctive (EC) No 1223/2009 on Cosmetics from Annex IV, V and V I, taking into consideration the 
research done and the constant expert review . 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS  377-3:2021  
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cosmetics and cosmetic products — Part 3: List of colorants, 
preservatives and UV -filters  allowed in cosmetic products  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard prescribes the list of colorants,  preservatives and UV -filters allowed in 
cosmetic products.  
2 Normative references   
There are no normative references in this document.  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: avail able at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
colorants  
substances which are exclusively or mainly intended to colour the cosmetic product, the body as a whole or 
certain parts thereof, by absorption or reflection of visible li ght; in addition, precursors of oxidative hair 
colorants shall be deemed colorants  
3.2  
cosmetic product  
substance or mixture intended to be placed in contact with the external parts of the human body (epidermis, 
hair system, nails, lips and external geni tal organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral 
cavity with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance, 
protecting them, keeping them in good condition or correcting body odours  
3.3  
esters  
organic compounds formed by reacting  carboxylic acid and an alcohol  
3.4  
eye product  
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied in the vicinity of the eyes  
3.5 
face product  
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the skin of the face   
3.6  
hair product  
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the hair of head or face, except eyelashes   
2 © EAC 2021  – All rights  reserved  
 3.7  
leave -on product  
cosmetic product which is intended to stay in prolonged contact with the skin, the hair or the mucous 
membranes  
3.8  
lip product  
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the lips  
3.9  
mixture  
preparation or solution composed of two or more substances  
3.10  
nail product  
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on nails  
3.11  
oral produc t 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on teeth or the mucous membranes of the oral cavity  
3.12  
preservatives  
substances which are exclusively or mainly intended to inhibit the development of micro -organisms in the 
cosmetic product  
3.13 
product applied on mucous membranes  
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, on the rim of 
the eyes, or of the external genital organs  
3.14 
professional use  
application and use of cosmetic produc ts by persons in the exercise of their professional activity  
3.15 
rinse -off product  
cosmetic product which is intended to be removed after application on the skin, the hair or the mucous 
membranes  
3.16 
serious undesirable effect  
undesirable effect which results in temporary or permanent functional incapacity, disability, hospitalisation, 
congenital anomalies or an immediate vital risk or death  
3.17 
skin product  
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the skin  
3.18 
substance  
chemi cal element and its compounds in the natural state or obtained by any manufacturing process, including 
any additive necessary to preserve its stability and any impurity deriving from the process used but excluding 
any solvent which may be separated without  affecting the stability of the substance or changing its 
composition   
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  3 
 3.19  
undesirable effect  
adverse reaction for human health attributable to the normal or reasonably foreseeable use of a cosmetic 
product  
3.20  
UV-filters  
substances which are ex clusively or mainly intended to protect the skin against certain UV radiation by 
absorbing, reflecting or scattering UV radiation  
 
4 Requirements  
4.1 Colorants  
Cosmetic products shall not contain any colorants , other than those listed and  used in accor dance with the 
conditions laid down in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 on cosmetic products of the European 
Parliament and of the Council (as amended from time to time).  
4.2 Preservatives   
4.2.1 Cosmetic products shall not contain any preservati ves other than those listed and used in accordance 
with the conditions laid down in Annex V of Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 on cosmetic products of the 
European Parliament and of the Council (as amended from time to time).  
4.2.2 All finished products cont aining formaldehyde or substances which release formaldehyde shall be 
labelled with the warning ‘contains formaldehyde’ where the concentration of formaldehyde in the  finished 
product exceeds 0.05 %.  
4.3 UV filters   
Cosmetic products shall not contain any UV filters other than those listed and used in accordance with the 
conditions laid down in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 on cosmetic products of the European 
Parliament and of the Council (as amended from time to time).   
4 © EAC 2021  – All rights  reserved  
 Bibliography  
Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30th November 2009 on 
cosmetic products  
 WEAS 377-3: 2021    
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights r eserved