China's mandatory national standard GB 7916-2026, General Safety Requirements for Cosmetics, takes effect on 1 January 2028. The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) says cosmetics produced or imported before implementation may remain on sale until the end of their period of use.

One effective date, plus one rule for pre-implementation products

National standard announcement No. 34 of 2026 lists GB 7916-2026 as mandatory, gives 1 January 2028 as its effective date, and states that it fully supersedes GB 7916-1987. The phrase “fully supersedes” describes the relationship between the old and new documents. The effective date remains the point at which the replacement takes legal effect.

The NMPA's official interpretation supplies the transition rule. Cosmetics already produced or imported before implementation may continue to be sold until the end of their period of use. Read together, the two official documents create a simple timeline: the new standard starts on 1 January 2028, while products made or imported earlier can complete their own sell-through period.

For scheduling, use the two official anchors directly: 1 January 2028 as the effective date, and the production or import date as the dividing event. This keeps batch records, label review and sell-through planning aligned with the source documents.

The dividing event is production or import, rather than market launch

The first group consists of cosmetics produced or imported before 1 January 2028. Their permitted sell-through end point follows the period of use assigned to each product. Different batches of the same product may therefore reach different end dates.

The second group consists of cosmetics produced or imported after the new standard takes effect. Compliance work for those products should use GB 7916-2026 together with the other requirements applicable at that time. The earlier sell-through arrangement belongs to products on the first side of the line.

“New product” and “post-implementation product” are not equivalent categories. A cosmetic could be produced before the effective date and launched afterwards. The reverse pattern also matters: a familiar product may continue to be produced after 1 January 2028. Launch status describes a commercial event, whereas the NMPA interpretation uses production or import as the regulatory event.

The period of use is the product’s own labelled period, not a new grace period created by the standard. The sell-through end date therefore comes from each product’s label and registration or filing record; neither the announcement nor the interpretation sets a single cut-off date that applies to every pre-implementation product.

That distinction is the hinge of the transition. Production or import date places the product on one side of the implementation boundary; its period of use then determines how long a pre-implementation product may remain on sale.

Finished-product transition and ingredient preparation run on separate tracks

The NMPA interpretation says the new standard consolidates general safety requirements covering ingredients, finished products, packaging materials and carriers, labelling, storage and transport. Product teams will still need the standard text for the applicable technical provisions and numerical limits.

The sell-through rule answers a timing question for finished products: which products may continue to be sold, and for how long. It does not by itself establish the compliance of a particular ingredient, formulation or finished product. The announcement also sets no universal early deadline for a brand owner to request documents from every ingredient supplier.

A practical programme can therefore run on two tracks. On the first, the responsible product team identifies products made or imported before implementation and links them to their periods of use. On the second, it reviews formulations, ingredient specifications, labelling and test requirements for products that will be made or imported under the new standard. Ingredient suppliers can support that work by keeping current specifications, batch evidence and change information ready for product-specific assessment.

The sequence matters. Place each product on the correct timeline first; then plan the technical changeover against the standard text. That keeps “when does the new rule apply?” separate from “does this product meet it?”—two questions that require different evidence.