Schakowsky Presses FDA on Status of Cosmetics Law Rules

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) led a group of House Democrats in a letter asking the Food and Drug Administration to detail the status of regulations required under a 2022 law that rewrote federal oversight of cosmetics, according to the lawmaker's office.

The full text of the letter and its complete list of signatories were not independently available beyond the announcement of its release. Its stated purpose, however, is specific: members want the FDA to report where it stands on writing rules Congress ordered the agency to produce under the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act, the statute widely known in Washington as MoCRA.

What law triggered the inquiry?

Congress folded MoCRA into a broader year-end government funding package enacted in December 2022, giving the FDA its first major expansion of authority over cosmetics since 1938. The law directed the agency to write rules covering facility registration, product listing, recordkeeping for adverse events, mandatory recall authority, fragrance-allergen disclosure and standardized safety-testing methods, with compliance deadlines phased in after enactment.

What is Schakowsky asking the FDA to report?

Based on the letter's stated purpose, the request centers on timing rather than policy substance: lawmakers want to know which MoCRA-mandated rules the FDA has finalized, which remain in draft form, and which have missed statutory deadlines. That approach follows a familiar pattern in congressional oversight correspondence, where members press an agency to account for a rulemaking backlog rather than propose new legislation of their own.

How might shoppers feel the effect?

Delays in finishing rules on ingredient-safety substantiation, fragrance-allergen disclosure and facility registration can leave manufacturers operating under interim FDA guidance rather than completed regulations. For shoppers evaluating active-ingredient products such as retinol and retinal formulations — a category HTT's beauty desk has examined separately, alongside broader skin care guidance — the pace of FDA rulemaking affects how quickly updated labeling and safety-testing standards reach store shelves.

Timeline: from law to letter

• December 2022: Congress enacts MoCRA as part of a year-end spending package, expanding FDA authority over cosmetics for the first time in decades.
• 2023–2024: FDA compliance deadlines tied to provisions such as facility registration and product listing begin taking effect in stages.
• 2026: Schakowsky and House colleagues send a letter asking the FDA to report on the status of remaining MoCRA regulations.

Glossary

• MoCRA: The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022, the law that expanded FDA oversight of the cosmetics industry.
• Facility registration: A MoCRA requirement that cosmetics manufacturing sites register with the FDA.
• Rulemaking: The formal process agencies use to write binding regulations implementing a statute passed by Congress.
• Oversight letter: Correspondence from lawmakers asking an agency to explain or account for its actions, short of a legislative mandate.