One of our members emailed me about the requirements for cosmetic manufacturers in Florida. Their law, enacted July 2008, requires all cosmetic manufacturers to register their facilities and products with the state every two years. The registration fee is $250 – $400. In addition, every product manufactured must be registered, at $30 per product. (Luckily, variations in scent or color don’t count as a unique product.)
The registration process includes submitting the application form, the list of products and the label for each product. Any changes to any products or labels must also be reported (the fee is reduced if there is less than 12 months left on the existing registration). A product that has not be registered may not be sold.
The application form lists out all the items that are included as “cosmetics”. The list is extensive and covers just about everything that and handcrafted soapmaker might make.
If you reside in Florida and are going through the application process, keep in mind the permit application requirements:
- Must be 18 years of age
- Establishment cannot be a place of residence
- Must be done on forms provided by the state
Soap is specifically exempted from the definition of a cosmetic. However, if you make any cosmetic claims about your soap, then it would qualify as a cosmetic and require all the necessary registrations and reporting.
These rules are not unlike the proposed FDA Globalization Act of 2008 requirements.
I’d like to hear from anyone who has gone through the registration process in Florida … or decided to change their business (or move) because of it.
Marie Gale, President
4 Comments on “Florida Regulations – Similar to FDA Proposal”
Hi Marie, I just incorporated my company, Little Cottage Soaps, LLC and I live in Florida. I didn’t realize that Florida had any regulations. If I understand your post, as long as I don’t make any cosmetic claims on my soaps (other than they will get you clean), then I don’t have to register. Right? I’m just starting out and I’m still not ready to press the “sell” button since I’m still getting things lined up. I will be upgrading my membership (#6318) and getting the insurance as well. Do you have any recommendations/guidance you can provide? Thank you, Alicia Villacorta
hi, Alicia, It’s very difficult not to turn your soap into a cosmetic. Making a claim includes not only your physical label, but any information on your website, any information displays that you set up at a show, and anything you say to a prospective customer (and it’s really hard to keep to yourself how awesome your soap feels, right?) These days, you can find Marie over on mariegale.com. I’d also reach out to some of the other Florida soapmakers on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheHandcraftedSoapmakersGuild) to see if they have tips and tricks. Thanks for your question -if I catch up with any of the Florida crew during our conference in May, I’ll touch base and see if they have enough info to make another blog post out of it.
Best of luck!
Jen
Thanks for getting back to me. I’ll be at the conference in May so hopefully I’ll get more information there. I’ll start digging around to see what I can come up with on my end. Thanks again, Alicia
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