What changes
Mercury compounds have long been banned in cosmetics, with one exception: thiomersal and phenylmercuric salts (Annex V entries 16 and 17) were allowed as preservatives in eye make-up and eye make-up removers, with a “Contains…” warning. The SCCS concluded on 2 February 2026 that they are not safe at the permitted levels. The draft deletes both entries and changes Annex II entry 221 to a full ban on “mercury and its compounds”. Very few products still use these preservatives, so the practical impact for consumers is small.
Key dates
Not yet adopted. The draft was notified to the WTO on 8 July 2026 (comments until 6 September 2026), backed by the Standing Committee on Cosmetic Products and sent to the Council on 21 September 2026 for the three-month scrutiny period of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. It will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal; non-compliant products may not be placed on the market from 12 months after entry into force and may not be made available (sold) from 24 months after entry into force. If published around January 2027, that means roughly early 2028 and early 2029. Exact dates are unconfirmed until publication.
Affected ingredients
Products in our database containing these ingredients
We have not found products with these ingredients in our database.
This is a consumer-oriented summary, not legal advice. Only the text published in the Official Journal of the EU is legally binding.