Ukrainian manufacturers and distributors of cosmetics have mixed views on the one-year extension, until July 31, 2027, of the deadline for implementing the notification system for cosmetic products, particularly given that the resolution extending the relevant transition period was issued only a few days before its expiration.
"The notification of cosmetics, which was supposed to take effect on August 3, 2026, is one of the requirements for Ukraine's integration into the EU. Okay, they've thrown the entire beauty market into disarray, but companies in this sector – those who want to continue operating – understood the situation and absorbed the costs; the cost of notifying a single product can range from UAH 8,000 to UAH 12,000, "but after all those expenses, there was a setback of another year," CEO of the Ukrainian branch of the Austrian aromatherapy and cosmetics brand STYX Myroslava Pavlovska said on Facebook.
According to her, virtually all market players she spoke with undertook "a titanic, bureaucratic, and costly effort to obtain notification."
"But it seems that corruption is at play here as well, because someone really doesn't want the notification to take effect. And someone is putting a spoke in the wheel, halting the country's progress toward Europe," Pavlovska believes.
For his part, owner and founder of Piel Cosmetics and the Le Pelerin Parfum brand Yaroslav Protsko wrote in a comment under Pavlovska's post that while the postponement of the notification in recent days is unfortunate, but better than implementing it, and in general, it should have been deliberately postponed until the end of the war.
"If anyone thinks this will civilize the market, I'm certain it won't. Those who are conscientious are already doing everything according to the proper standards. But they'll be the first ones to be harassed. It would be better to start with smuggling. Now that would be effective," he said.
At the same time, Protsko said the expert's final report alone costs one and a half times more than the notification costs cited by Pavlovska.
According to Ukrainian entrepreneur Andriy Shumiakov (Dream Board), not many companies have completed the nationwide notification process, including suppliers to national retail chains and distributors for beauty salons – often for objective reasons.
"And the reasons for the delay are 100% objective – ranging from goods disappearing from store shelves to the budget losing billions of hryvnias," he said.
For her part, Pavlovska refuted his claim about high tax payments, noting that different companies pay taxes in very different ways, especially those that sell online. Protsko, for his part, reminded her of the risks and conditions of doing business in Ukraine and the losses the industry's companies have already suffered due to the delays.
Founder of Medicaprof (a distributor of aesthetic cosmetology products) Natalia Plisiuk expressed surprise at the extension of the deadline by another year at the end of the previous term and suggested that this decision was lobbied for by "major players."
The technical regulation for cosmetic products, developed based on the EU Regulation, was approved by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated January 20, 2021. It entered into force on August 3, 2024, but under the stipulated transition period, cosmetics placed on the market before August 3, 2026, could not be banned solely on the grounds of non-compliance with the new regulations.
By a resolution dated July 29, 2026, the government extended this period by another year.
Cosmetics notification is the official electronic declaration and submission of information about a cosmetic product to the state e-Cosmetics portal prior to placing the product on the Ukrainian market.
The European Business Association (EBA), according to its own information, supported the government's decision to extend the transition period for implementing the technical regulation on cosmetic products and noted that, in the opinion of business representatives, this will ensure a balanced approach to implementing the requirements of the EU Regulation and take into account the market's actual level of readiness, particularly the timeline for launching the Notification Portal and the time needed to prepare technical documentation.
At the same time, the EBA appealed to the relevant authorities with a proposal to continue working on improving the practical mechanisms for implementing the Technical Regulation, specifically to eliminate duplication of procedures when preparing safety reports for cosmetic products.
