Nota노타

EN한국어

Sources & method

NPRA’s own pages, read in full.

Every line on this site points to a paragraph in one of these documents, read on 3 November 2026. Where a guideline is silent, we say so, and where we interpret, we label it “our reading”. No consultant blog or third-party guide is used as a source for any rule.

Primary sources

  1. NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, Ministry of Health Malaysia), "Guidelines for Control of Cosmetic Products in Malaysia", Second Edition, effective 1 August 2022, issued by the Director of Pharmaceutical Services under Regulation 18A of the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984 (npra.gov.my, PDF). Used: glossary (CNH, LOA, Letter of Declaration, Letter of Contract Manufacturing, primary assembler, product variant), §1.1, §2.1-2.11 (who files, Quest, language, fee, validity, Notification Note, changes, number format), §3.1-3.8 (particulars, safety, ingredients, labelling and the voluntary halal logo, claims, GMP, PIF), §4.1-4.2 (post-market surveillance, sampling), §5.1-5.4 (rejection, cancellation, recall, penalty), §6 (withdrawal), §7.1-7.5 (exemptions). The NPRA list page shows the guideline and Annex I as August 2022, Annexes II, III, IV and VI as June 2026 and Annex VII as December 2025. Read in full on 3 November 2026.

  2. NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, Ministry of Health Malaysia), Annex I part 2 "Non-permissible product name for cosmetic product", August 2022. Used in full: the six groups of names (ingredient names for products without that ingredient, banned substances, disease and medical words, offensive words, superstition, weight-loss words) and the examples under each. The list is stated to be not exhaustive and NPRA may disallow other words. Read 3 November 2026.

  3. NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, Ministry of Health Malaysia), Annex I part 8 "Guideline for cosmetic claims", August 2022. Used in full: the five-step decision process (composition, target site, main function, presentation, physiological effect), the table of unacceptable and acceptable claims by product type (skin, hair, oral, deodorant, perfume, essential oil, massage, feminine and male hygiene, bust, sunscreen, depilatory, others) and the "other claims" notes on GMP logos, religious references, safety claims and numerical claims. Stated to be not exhaustive. Read 3 November 2026.

  4. NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, Ministry of Health Malaysia), Annex I part 7 "Cosmetic labelling requirements", August 2022. Used in full: §3.1 (a)-(i) outer-pack particulars, ingredient order and naming, expiry rule for durability under 30 months, animal-origin statement, "for external use only" on vials and ampoules, §3.2 small packs, §3.3 bulk imports, §4 legibility, §5 language. Read 3 November 2026.

  5. NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, Ministry of Health Malaysia), Annex I part 3 "Charges for Quest membership", August 2022 (main user RM 260 for 1 year and RM 290 for 2 years, certificate and USB token; supplementary user; postage RM 10 Peninsular and RM 20 Sabah/Sarawak; the table says prices exclude 6% GST and is dated 2022). Annex I part 4 "Manual for Quest3+ online submission", August 2022 (step 7: GMP certificate or equivalent is mandatory for a foreign manufacturer or primary assembler; step 10: percentage mandatory for substances in Annexes III to VII; step 11: label upload; section H: letters of authorisation, declaration and contract manufacturing). Annex I part 5 "List of types of changes" (Type 1 and Type 2). Read 3 November 2026.

  6. NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, Ministry of Health Malaysia), Annex I part 13 "Guideline for Product Information File (PIF)", August 2022 (four parts; kept readily accessible at the address on the label; signed safety assessment with the assessor's CV); Annex I part 14 "Heavy metal and microbiological test limit for cosmetic product", August 2022 (mercury 1, lead 20, arsenic 5, cadmium 5 ppm; total viable count 1,000 cfu per g or ml, 500 for children under 3, eye area and mucous membranes; absence of P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and C. albicans in 0.1 g; B. cepacia in aqueous products); Annex I part 10 "Guideline for cosmetic advertisement", August 2022 (§1.2, §3, §4.1, §4.3, §4.4). Read 3 November 2026.

What we left out

The ingredient annexes themselves (II, III, IV, VI and VII): Nota does not check a formula. NPRA re-issued them in June 2026 (December 2025 for VII); use the current PDFs and your safety assessor.

Annex I part 6 (safety assessment), part 9 (sunscreen, hand sanitiser, antibacterial wash), parts 11 and 12 (GMP and equivalent GMP standards), part 15 and 16 (adverse events, recalls): not read, so the site makes no claim about their content.

Malaysian customs and tariffs, Sales and Service Tax, the Companies Commission’s rules for a notifier, JAKIM’s halal procedure, Sabah and Sarawak, and Quest’s login technology.

Processing times: the guideline gives none that we rely on, so the site shows none.

Corrections

Found a line that is wrong or out of date? Write to hello@go.milleuno.kr. We re-read the source, fix the page, and change the date. The guidelines are re-checked every quarter.