FDA Has Stopped Accepting Submissions to the Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program (VCRP)
Constituent Update
March 27, 2023
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stopped accepting submissions to the Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program (VCRP) effective March 27, 2023 as a result of FDA’s plans to develop a program for submission of the facility registrations and product listings mandated by the “Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022” (MoCRA).
The VCRP was established in 1972 as a way for FDA to obtain the best estimate of information available about cosmetic products and ingredients, their frequency of use, and businesses engaged in their manufacture and distribution, voluntarily, from manufacturers, packers, and distributors of cosmetic products in commercial distribution. The VCRP was also open to foreign cosmetics companies whose products are exported for sale in the U.S.
FDA used the information from the VCRP to assist it in carrying out its responsibility to regulate cosmetics marketed in the U.S. It was not an approval system. Because the system was voluntary, the information provided through the VCRP did not present a complete picture of cosmetics in the U.S. marketplace (Refer to 21 CFR, parts 710 and 720, for full details regarding the program).
Because MoCRA requires certain companies to register their facilities and list their products with FDA, FDA is creating a new system to handle the large number of submissions that will result. FDA therefore will no longer use the voluntary registration system, and is no longer accepting and processing submissions to the VCRP.
We request that cosmetics companies wait to register with FDA until we announce the availability of the new system. Information in the VCRP will not be transferred to the program being developed for facility registrations and product listings mandated by MoCRA.
Summary:
- FDA has stopped accepting and processing submissions to the VCRP.
- FDA is developing a system for submission of the facility registrations and product listings mandated by MoCRA and will provide further updates on its forthcoming availability.
- Information in the VCRP will not be transferred to the program being developed for facility registrations and product listings mandated by MoCRA.