U.S. FDA Shuts Down Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shuttered the Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program (VCRP) on March 27, 2023, taking the industry by surprise, according to one source.

A statement on the VCRP webpage reads:

"The FDA has stopped accepting and processing submissions to the VCRP as a result of [the] 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)."

See related: A Synopsis of the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act

In a separate press announcement, the FDA noted, "Because MoCRA requires certain companies to register their facilities and list their products with [the] 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 [the] 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."

The FDA additionally implemented a webpage outlining MoCRA and will roll out a webinar this month (April 2023) providing an overview of the provisions outlined in MoCRA.