Alibaba to reduce waiting times on imported cosmetics for Tmall brands

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has signed an agreement with the Zhoushan Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to accelerate the certification process for imported cosmetics.

Alibaba signed the deal with two Zhoushan City Government agencies. It is aimed to reduce the approval time for Tmall companies down from the usual eight months to around three months.

The head of Alibaba’s business to consumer (B2C) marketplace Tmall Jet Jing said: “The faster service will enable brands to quickly launch their products in China.”

As per the Chinese regulations, non-special-use cosmetics are products that do not have any speciality functions such as eyeshadow and lipstick. Around 80% of cosmetics sold on Tmall come under this category.

Speciality items such as sunscreen and freckle-removal cream are not part of this agreement.

The agreement follows enactment of a policy in March 2017 that saw the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) increased the approval time for first-time imported non-special used cosmetics at the Shanghai FTZ.

Following this move, 11 FTZs across China have secured approval to provide the same expedited sanctions by centralising all required testing agencies in one location.

Only the first shipment of non-special-use cosmetics undergoes this kind of testing.