The FDA announced today that effective immediately they are no longer accepting submissions into the Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program (VCRP).

The Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program is a voluntary program set up in 1972 so the FDA could get best-guess estimates on cosmetic products and ingredients in the marketplace. It was also used by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Experts Panel to determine current usage rates of various cosmetic products and ingredients for use in their ingredient reviews.

This is the first notable motion in preparation for implementation of the Modernization of Cometics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA). (See also More on MoCRA – What Now?)

MoCRA has a section in it which requires that cosmetic companies register their facilities and products with the FDA. The Act states that facilities must register “within one year” of the passage of the Act – so by December, 2023.

In order to prepare, the FDA is creating a brand new system to handle the upcoming required product and facility registrations. Information currently in the VCRP will no be transferred into the new system.