Standards Australia publish an Australian/New Zealand Sunscreen Standard for sunscreens which provides testing and labelling requirements for sunscreens marketed in Australia.
An updated sunscreen standard was published by Standards Australia in 2021 (Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS) 2604:2021) (the 2021 Sunscreen Standard). Targeted and public consultation undertaken by the TGA showed all stakeholders were supportive of adopting the 2021 Sunscreen Standard as it would ensure alignment with international sunscreen testing methodology. Industry stakeholders provided feedback on transition timeframes which was incorporated into the final transition arrangements outlined below.
The TGA adopted the 2021 Sunscreen Standard into therapeutic goods legislation by reference in:
- the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990 (the Regulations)
- the Therapeutic Goods (Excluded Goods) Determination 2018.
The following transition arrangements apply:
- From1 July 2024, all new sunscreen products included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) must comply with the 2021 Sunscreen Standard.
- Existing aerosols and spray pump packs included in the ARTG prior to 1 July 2024 will have a 1-year transition period to comply with the new labelling requirements in the 2021 Sunscreen Standard.
- All existing sunscreens products (aerosol and non-aerosol) included in the ARTG prior to 1 July 2024 will have a 5-year transition period where they can comply with the testing requirements of the 2021 Sunscreen Standard or previous standard (2604:2012).
After the transition period, all existing sunscreen products included in the ARTG and any new products released for supply must comply the 2021 Sunscreen Standard.
An Impact Analysis on the adoption of the 2021 Sunscreen Standard is available here: