On a pale oak worktable in natural light stand an unlabelled frosted glass dropper bottle and an unprinted aluminium tube, with three overlapping blank ivory label sheets in front of them and a brass-rimmed magnifier resting on top. A speckled ceramic vase of white blossom and a stone tray of green leaves sit behind on the left, and a folded linen cloth lies to the right

AI-generated image.

The short answer: the product type and the formula decide the warning text

On a label proof, the longest and dullest block is usually the precautions for use. In a design file it looks like small print that fills the space left over, yet neither the designer nor the brand decides what goes in it. The Cosmetics Act fixes it as a mandatory label entry, the Enforcement Rule sets the four lines that every cosmetic carries, and an MFDS notification sets everything else by product type and by the ingredients the formula contains.

That means the block is largely settled the moment two things are settled. The first is which cosmetic type the product falls into. The second is what the formula contains and at what level. A shampoo carries statements because it is a shampoo, and a product with 2 percent or more arbutin carries a statement because of that ingredient. The two axes apply independently, so two essences with different formulas end up with blocks of different length.

It is also not an area you can shorten because space is tight. Korea does have a rule that reduces the label entries on small packs, but precautions for use are not on the reduced list. On top of that, two specific products are carved out of the small-pack reduction altogether.

This guide reads that structure directly from the provisions. It covers how many common lines there are, how many groups the type-based and ingredient-based lists contain, and which statements come with conditions attached. It then covers where a long set of statements may be printed instead, and how the penalties are structured when the label is wrong.

The scope is the law of the Republic of Korea. Every provision and attached table cited here was read in the original on the Korean Law Information Center on 14 October 2026. This is not legal advice on a specific matter, and it makes no claim about EVAS commercial terms, facilities or test records.

Key takeaways

1. Precautions are a mandatory entry, and omitting them carries consequences

Article 10(1) of the Act requires ten entries on the outer packaging of a cosmetic that consists only of primary packaging and on the outer packaging of a cosmetic that adds secondary packaging to primary packaging. Subparagraph 9 of that list is "precautions for use". It therefore sits at the same level as the product name or the full ingredient list. The whole list of entries, and the reduction structure for small packs, is set out separately in what small packs and samples let you leave off.

The consequences run along two tracks. Article 38, item 2 of the Act imposes a fine of up to 2 million won on a person who violates Article 10(1), excluding subparagraph 7 of that paragraph, or Article 10(2). The bracket removes only the price, so precautions stay inside the scope of that fine.

The same facts can also form the basis of an administrative disposition. Article 24(1), item 9 of the Act covers the case of entering or indicating information on the container, packaging or accompanying document of a cosmetic in violation of Articles 10 through 12. Article 24(2) then delegates the standards for those dispositions to Ordinance of the Prime Minister. Attached Table 7 to the Enforcement Rule, which holds those standards, divides label breaches into three rows. Failing to enter all of the required entries other than the price draws a suspension of sales of the item concerned for 3 months at the first offence. Entering them falsely draws 1 month at the first offence. Failing to enter some of them draws 15 days at the first offence. A missing precaution line may fall into that third row depending on the facts, and in that row the second offence is 1 month, the third is 3 months and the fourth is 6 months.

The practically important point is that the disposition applies to the item, not to the company. One missing line on one label can stop sales of that item and send already produced stock back for relabelling. That is why this block is safer to settle when the formula and the type are settled, rather than at the final proof.

2. The four lines that every cosmetic carries

Article 19(3) of the Enforcement Rule provides that the precautions for use to be entered on cosmetic packaging under Article 10(1), item 9 of the Act are as set out in Attached Table 3. Subparagraph 1 of that Attached Table, the common requirements, reads as follows.

In the provision these appear as three items, the third of which, precautions for storage and handling, has two sub-items. On a label they usually appear as four lines.

These four lines apply regardless of the product type or the formula. They are the same for skincare and colour cosmetics, and the same for rinse-off and leave-on products. The block is therefore designed by placing these four lines at the bottom and stacking the type-based and ingredient-based statements on top of them.

3. The rest of the text sits in a notification

Attached Table 3 follows the common requirements with subparagraph 2: "other matters determined and published by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety by cosmetic type and by contained ingredient in relation to the safety information of cosmetics". In other words, the only statements the Enforcement Rule writes itself are the four common lines, and everything that varies by product moves down to a notification.

That notification is the Regulation on Precautions for Use of Cosmetics and the Labelling of Fragrance Allergens. The current edition is MFDS Notification No. 2026-56, in force since 5 August 2026. It is short, with five articles.

When you are looking for label text, the document to read is the Attached Table 1 that Article 3 points to. The labelling thresholds for the twenty-five fragrance allergens sit in Attached Table 2 instead, and that subject is covered in what a brand has to check before formulation.

4. To find the type-based text, fix the type first

Attached Table 1 of the notification opens with subparagraph 1, which lists the cosmetic types. Quasi-drugs are excluded, and there are thirteen product categories from item (a) to item (m).

Each category then breaks down into numbered sub-items. Item (c), personal cleansing products, for example, covers foam cleanser, body cleanser, liquid soaps, facial cleansing soap in solid form, feminine cleanser, wet tissue and other personal cleansing products. Item (k), basic skincare products, covers face lotions of the astringent, softening and nourishing kinds, massage cream, essence and oil, powder, body products, packs and masks, eye-area products, lotion and cream, hand and foot emollient products, make-up removers such as cleansing water, cleansing oil, cleansing lotion and cleansing cream, and other basic skincare products.

The reason the sub-item matters is that the type-based statements are written against those names. The statement attached to a pack is not the statement attached to a shampoo, and the statement for hand and foot emollient products is narrowed again in brackets to hand creams and foot creams containing urea. How the rinse-off and leave-on split changes formulation latitude is covered separately in body wash versus body lotion.

5. The type-based precautions come in fourteen groups

Item (a) of subparagraph 2 of Attached Table 1 holds fourteen groups of type-based precautions. The subjects and the substance of each are as follows.

It is entirely possible that none of the fourteen groups applies to your product. A conventional toner or lotion, for example, does not map directly onto a type-based group. The four common lines still apply, and the ingredient-based groups still have to be checked separately.

The summaries above are there to show what each group deals with. The text that goes on a label has to be taken from the sentences in Attached Table 1 itself, and the groups for hair dyes, decolourant and hair-bleach products, and depilatories in particular are written out at length, down to the verb endings.

6. The ingredient-based precautions come in fifteen groups

Item (b) of subparagraph 2 of Attached Table 1 changes the axis. It looks at what the formula contains rather than at the product type. The fifteen groups cover the following.

This list matters during development because the ingredient-based statements are a consequence of formulation decisions. Which preservative you use, at what level you use an exfoliating acid, and which colourant you choose all change the number of sentences on the label. Deciding to use 2 percent or more arbutin for a whitening function brings with it the statement that papules and mild itching have been reported in human application test data. Opening this list while the formula is still being fixed saves re-laying out the label later.

7. The condition in brackets decides whether a statement applies

The point most often misread in Attached Table 1 is the bracket after a statement. The bracket is not decoration; it sets the scope. A statement may not apply to a sunscreen if the concentration or the dosage form does not meet the condition, and conversely a statement may be added simply because a particular additive was used.

In practice these conditions turn on the formula and on the container at the same time. That makes it safer to run the precautions check once more between the meeting that fixes the ingredient list and the meeting that fixes the container. How a container decision interacts with the formula is covered in cosmetic packaging compatibility.

8. Two products that are not reduced even on a small pack

Article 19(1) of the Enforcement Rule defines the packaging covered by the proviso to Article 10(1) of the Act as two kinds. The first is the packaging of a cosmetic with a content of 10 millilitres or less or 10 grams or less. The second is the packaging of a cosmetic manufactured or imported so that consumers may test or use it in advance for purposes such as product selection rather than for sale. Subparagraph 1 carries a bracket, however: "excluding cosmetics that the Minister of Food and Drug Safety determines and publishes as requiring special caution when used by consumers". The same bracket appears in Article 19(2), item 3, the provision that allows a shortened ingredient list.

That notification is No. 2026-56, and its Article 2 designates the subjects: the feminine cleanser at sub-item 5) of item (c) of subparagraph 1 of Attached Table 1, and the eyelash permanent wave product at sub-item 6) of item (d) of the same subparagraph. For those two products a pack of 10 millilitres or less cannot be reduced to five entries, and the option of a shortened ingredient list in the band above 10 millilitres and up to 50 millilitres is not available either.

Among the type-based precautions, those two products carry some of the longest and most specific text. The notification does not state why it designated them, so the safer reading is to note the designation itself rather than a rationale for it.

9. A long statement set has an accompanying-document route

Print the full text for a hair dye, a decolourant and hair-bleach product or a depilatory and it will not physically fit on a small tube or bottle. Attached Table 4 to the Enforcement Rule devotes one line to that problem. Attached Table 4 sets the labelling standards and methods for cosmetic packaging under Article 19(7), and its subparagraph 8 deals with precautions for use.

Subparagraph 8 applies to functional cosmetics falling under Article 2(6) and Article 2(7) of the same Rule. For those products, the common requirements under subparagraph 1 of Attached Table 3 are to be entered on the outer packaging, and the remaining matters may be entered in an accompanying document. Article 2(6) covers cosmetics with a function of changing hair colour, including decolouring and bleaching but excluding products that change the colour temporarily. Article 2(7) covers cosmetics with a function of removing body hair, excluding products that remove hair physically.

There are two cautions when reading it. First, this route does not move the common text. The four common lines stay on the outer packaging, and what may move are the remaining matters. Second, the subject is written as functional cosmetics. The provision addresses functional cosmetics falling under Article 2(6) and Article 2(7) of the Enforcement Rule, so the first question is whether your product falls within that scope. How claiming a function changes development is covered in claiming hair-loss relief, and where an SPF number comes from in developing sunscreen in Korea.

10. How you write it is regulated too

What you write and how you write it are different questions. Article 12 of the Act requires the entries under Articles 10 and 11 to be placed where they can be seen more easily than other text or sentences. It also requires them to be entered accurately in Korean that is easy to read and easy to understand, as prescribed by Ordinance of the Prime Minister. Chinese characters or a foreign language may be entered alongside.

The provision made under it is Article 21 of the Enforcement Rule, which has two subparagraphs: enter the information legibly in Korean, and use standardised common names when indicating ingredients. The first subparagraph carries a proviso allowing Chinese characters or a foreign language alongside, and allowing products for export and similar products to be labelled in the language of the destination country.

A breach of Article 12 of the Act and Article 21 of the Enforcement Rule has its own row in Attached Table 7. It draws suspension of sales of the item concerned for 15 days at the first offence, 1 month at the second, 3 months at the third and 6 months at the fourth. Printing every required statement but printing it illegibly is therefore a separate breach, which is why type size and legibility belong in the label design stage.

Online sales screens are governed separately. What a product page has to say is covered in selling cosmetics online in Korea, and what advertising copy has to be able to prove in substantiating advertising claims.

11. When in the schedule should this be settled?

The structure of the provisions makes the moments fairly clear.

Because EVAS handles planning, design, research, manufacturing, logistics and brand content in house, it is possible to align the point where the formula is fixed with the point where the label is proofed. Which statements apply, however, is decided by the Act and the notification rather than by any company's capability, so the conclusion always has to be confirmed against the current text of the provisions and the attached tables. If you would like this reviewed against the type and the formula of a product in progress, tell us through the contact page.

12. What this guide did not verify

Frequently asked questions

For a toner or a lotion, are the four common lines enough?

If no type-based group applies, nothing is added because of the type. The ingredient-based groups still apply separately. Statements are added depending on whether the formula contains 2 percent or more arbutin and whether alpha-hydroxy acid exceeds 0.5 percent. They are also added where a paraben listed in that group is used in a leave-on product in the infant and young children category, or in a leave-on basic skincare product used by infants and young children aged 3 years or under. It is safer to run the fifteen groups once against the finalised ingredient list.

Can we rewrite the precautions in our brand voice?

The sentences in Attached Table 1 are designated as the content that must appear on the label, so rewriting them in a way that changes the meaning is not advisable. For groups written out down to the verb endings, such as hair dyes and depilatories, taking the text directly from the original is the safer course. Brand voice is better carried in the product description and the directions for use than in the precautions block.

If it is a 10 millilitre sample, can the precautions be left off?

The small-pack reduction is the structure set by the proviso to Article 10(1) of the Act and by Article 19(1) of the Enforcement Rule, and precautions for use are not on that reduced list. Feminine cleansers and eyelash permanent wave products are also excluded from the reduction altogether under Article 2 of the notification. It is safer not to assume that a small pack by itself allows the precautions to be omitted.

What if the statements are too long to fit on the label?

Subparagraph 8 of Attached Table 4 to the Enforcement Rule applies to functional cosmetics falling under Article 2(6) and Article 2(7) of the same Rule, that is hair colour change products and hair removal products. Those products must carry the common requirements on the outer packaging. The remaining matters may be entered in an accompanying document. That route should not be assumed to be generally available for products outside that scope, and adjusting the layout and the type size comes first.

What actually happens if a precaution is missing?

There are two tracks. Article 38, item 2 of the Act imposes a fine of up to 2 million won for a breach of Article 10(1) or Article 10(2), excluding the price. Article 24(1), item 9 of the Act and Attached Table 7 to the Enforcement Rule are the basis for an administrative disposition. In Attached Table 7, failing to enter some of the required entries other than the price draws suspension of sales of the item concerned for 15 days at the first offence. The same row gives 1 month at the second offence, 3 months at the third and 6 months at the fourth. Because the disposition applies to the item, one missing line on a label can stop sales of that item.

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