FINAL DRAFT UGANDA 
STANDARD  
  FDUS EAS 377-4 
First  Edition  
2013-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
FDUS EAS 377-4: 2013 
© UNBS 201 3 
  
Cosmetics and cosmetics products — Part 4: List of 
preservatives allowed in cosmetic products  
 FDUS EAS 377-4: 2013 
ii                © UNBS  2013 - All rights reserved  
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible f or its correct application  
© UNBS 20 13 
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior wri tten 
permission from UNBS.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to  
The Executive Director  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards  
P.O. Box 6329  
Kampala  
Uganda  
Tel: 256 41 505 995  
Fax: 256 41 286 123  
E-mail: unbs@infocom.co.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 FDUS EAS 377-4: 2013 
© UNBS  2013 - All rights reserved                 iii National foreword  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and 
Industry established under Cap 327, of the Laws of Uganda. UNBS is mandate d to co -ordinate the elaboration 
of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT/SPS Agreemen ts of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of representatives of 
consum ers, traders, academicians, manufacturers, government and other stakeholders.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before rec ommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
This Final Draft Uganda Standard, FDUS EAS 377-4: 2013, Cosmetics and cosmetics products — Part 4: List 
of preservatives allowed in cosmetic products , is identical with  and has been r eproduced from an East African  
Standard, EAS 377-4: 2013, Cosmetics and cosmetics products — Part 4: List of preservatives allowed in 
cosmetic products , and is being proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard.  
Wherever the words, “ East African  Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard."   EAS 377-4: 2013 
ICS 71.100.70 
© EAC 2013                                                                                                                              First Edition 2013  
 
EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
Cosmetics and cosmetics products — Part 4: List of preservatives 
allowed in cosmetic products 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY EAS 377-4: 2013  
ii © EAC  2013  – 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 2013  — All rights reserved 
East African Community  
P.O.Box 1096 
Arusha 
Tanzania 
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8 
Fax: 255 27 2504481/2504255 
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 persecuted 
 EAS 377-4 : 2013  
© EAC 2013  – 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 that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. Draft East African Standards 
are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the Partner States. The comments 
received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in accordance with the procedures 
of the Community. 
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 .  
EAS 377-4 was prepared by Technical Committee EAS/TC 071, Cosmetics and cosmetic products . 
EAS 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 colorants allowed in cosmetic products 
 Part 4: List of preservatives allowed in cosmetic products 
 Part 5: Use of UV filters in cosmetic products  
 
 EAS 377-4: 2013  
iv © EAC  2013  – All rights reserved  
 Introduction 
Cosmetic products should be safe under normal or reasonably foreseeable 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 European 
Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetics to which this 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 supported 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 order 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 – XI of the Regulation has been developed through risk 
assessment of these substances by the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (SCCS) set 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 not 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  SCCS  in accordance to Annex III. 
To minimise the risk and assure the safety of cosmetic products in the region, EAS 377-4 has been adapted 
from the EU Directive (EC) No 1223/2009 on Cosmetics from Annex V taking into consideration the research 
done and the constant expert review. 
 
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  EAS 377-4: 2013  
 
© EAC 2013  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cosmetics and cosmetics products — Part 4: List of preservatives  
allowed in cosmetic products  
1 Scope 
This East African Standard prescribes the list of preservatives allowed in cosmetic products. 
2 Terms and definitions 
For the purposes of this East African Standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply. 
2.1 
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 light; in addition, precursors of oxidative hair 
colorants shall be deemed colorants 
2.2 
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 genital 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 
2.3 
esters 
esters of methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, phenyl.2 
2.4 
eye product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied in the vicinity of the eyes 
2.5 
face product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the skin of the face 
2.6 
hair product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the hair of head or face, except eyelashes 
2.7 
leave- on product 
cosmetic product which is intended to stay in prolonged contact with the skin, the hair or the mucous 
membranes 
2.8 
lip product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the lips EAS 377-4: 2013  
2 © EAC  2013  – All rights reserved  
 2.9 
mixture 
preparation or solution composed of two or more substances 
2.10 
nail product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on nails 
2.11 
oral product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on teeth or the mucous membranes of the oral cavity 
2.12 
preservatives 
substances which are exclusively or mainly intended to inhibit the development of micro-organisms in the 
cosmetic product 
2.13 
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 
2.14 
professional use 
application and use of cosmetic products by persons in the exercise of their professional activity 
2.15 
rinse-off product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be removed after application on the skin, the hair or the mucous 
membranes 
2.16  
salts 
salts of the cations sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, ammonium and ethanolamines; salts of the 
anions chloride, bromide, sulphate, acetate  
2.16 
serious undesirable effect 
undesirable effect which results in temporary or permanent functional incapacity, disability, hospitalisation, 
congenital anomalies or an immediate vital risk or death 
2.17 
skin product 
cosmetic product which is intended to be applied on the skin 
2.18 
substance 
chemical 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 
2.19 
undesirable effect 
adverse reaction for human health attributable to the normal or reasonably foreseeable use of a cosmetic 
product EAS 377-4 : 2013  
© EAC 2013  – All rights reserved  3 
 2.20 
UV-filters 
substances which are exclusively or mainly intended to protect the skin against certain UV radiation by 
absorbing, reflecting or scattering UV radiation 
3 Requirements 
3.1 Cosmetic products shall not contain any preservatives 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). 
3.2 All finished products containing formaldehyde or substances which release formaldehyde shall be 
labelled with the warnin g ‘contains formaldehyde’ where the concentration of formaldehyde i nthe finished 
product exceeds 0.05 %. EAS 377-4: 2013  
4 © EAC  2013  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography 
Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30th November 2009 on 
cosmetic products 
 EAS 377-4: 2013    
 
© EAC 2013  – All rights reserved