Omnibus IX Runs on Two Clocks. Only One Starts on 1 February 2027.
Keywords: Omnibus IX cosmetics · EU cosmetics ingredient ban 2027 · CMR cosmetics Annex II · CBD cosmetics limit EU · BHA cosmetics restriction · Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1222
On 8 July 2026 the European Commission notified the WTO of its next amendment to the Cosmetics Regulation, usually called Omnibus Act IX (some sources call it the third ingredients omnibus). Read quickly, it looks like a single list of bans and limits with a single deadline. It is not. The draft runs on two separate clocks, and the first one stops on 1 February 2027, less than four months from now.
Here is the part that matters before any ingredient name: Omnibus IX is a draft, not an adopted act. Adoption is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the figures below come from trade-press and consultancy summaries of the notified text. Verify every substance, limit and date against the adopted Regulation once it is published in the Official Journal of the EU.
How the draft changes Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009
The draft amends Annexes II, III and V of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. It does so for two different reasons, and that distinction is the whole article.
The CMR track. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1222, the 23rd Adaptation to Technical Progress of the CLP Regulation, newly classified a group of substances as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR). Under Article 15 of the Cosmetics Regulation, a CMR 1A or 1B substance is prohibited in cosmetics unless a narrow set of conditions is met. The draft brings the Annexes into line with those classifications: 11 newly classified CMR substances go into Annex II, and butylparaben gets its own Annex V entry with new conditions. These changes are set to apply from 1 February 2027, the date the 23rd ATP classifications themselves start to apply, so they are tied to the CLP calendar rather than to the date the cosmetics amendment is published.
The SCCS track. Separately, the draft implements Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) opinions. This is where most of the ingredients brands will recognise sit: CBD, BHA, the benzophenones, two hair dyes and prostaglandin analogues. For these, trade-press summaries report a 12-month period to place compliant products on the market and a 24-month period to make products available, both counted from entry into force of the Regulation, which has not happened yet.
So the same document gives you a hard date for some ingredients and a floating date for others. Treating them as one deadline is how brands end up either panicking over the wrong substances or relaxing over the wrong ones.
What the draft contains
According to the summaries we reviewed, the draft proposes the following. Limits are as reported; values for nano hydroxyapatite and for butylparaben in children's products were not given in the sources we could access.
CMR track, Annex II (from 1 February 2027): 11 newly classified CMR substances, including dinitrogen oxide (nitrous oxide, classified toxic for reproduction category 1B and used as a propellant in some foams and aerosols), ozone, trimethyl phosphate, tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate, α-methylstyrene and several fluorinated monomers.
CMR track, Annex V (from 1 February 2027): butylparaben moves out of the shared paraben entry 12a into a new entry 12b, with specific concentration limits for products intended for children. Propylparaben stays in entry 12a, unchanged.
SCCS track, Annex II (prohibited): benzophenone-1, benzophenone-2, Basic Brown 16 and Basic Blue 99 (non-oxidative hair dyes), and prostaglandins and their analogues (relevant to eyelash- and eyebrow-growth products).
Mercury preservatives: the Annex V exemptions for thiomersal and phenylmercuric salts (entries 16 and 17) are deleted, so the general mercury prohibition in Annex II applies and the phase-out is complete.
SCCS track, Annex III (restricted): cannabidiol (CBD) at a maximum of 0.19% in leave-on, rinse-off and oral care products, with a Δ9-THC impurity capped at 0.00025% (2.5 ppm); butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) at a maximum of 0.07% in leave-on and rinse-off products, and not permitted in oral care products or products with inhalation exposure.
Nano hydroxyapatite: revised limits for toothpaste and mouthwash with updated particle specifications; it remains prohibited in other product types.
What it means in practice
For most brands the first question is not "is my ingredient on the list?" but "which track is it on?" An ingredient on the CMR track has a date, 1 February 2027, that follows the CLP calendar. An ingredient on the SCCS track gives you a transition that only starts counting at entry into force, but that also changes what "compliant" means for stock already in a warehouse, because the two stages (placing on the market, then making available) apply to different points in the supply chain.
The practical consequence is that a product launching in spring 2027 and a product already on shelves face different exposure. On the CMR track, assume no sell-through: earlier CMR omnibus acts applied the ban to products already on the shelf from the same date, and the summaries of this draft report no transitional period for the CMR entries. That is exactly the gap the Omnibus VI agreement is meant to close for future bans, but it does not help with this one unless the adopted text says otherwise. Anything on the SCCS track has more room, but only for products placed on the market within the first 12 months, and only until the 24-month limit for making them available.
Two details deserve attention. CBD is not banned: it is restricted, and the THC impurity limit of 2.5 ppm is a raw-material specification question as much as a formulation one. And BHA is often an antioxidant carried in through another raw material, such as an oil or a fragrance base, rather than something you added yourself.
Common mistakes
Reading the list by INCI name only. BHA frequently enters a formula through a supplier's oil, fat or fragrance blend, and a propellant is easy to forget when you think of "ingredients." If your ingredient list does not show it, your supplier's specification sheet might. Ask for it in writing.
Assuming one deadline fits every ingredient. The CMR track and the SCCS track start from different events. A single "we have until 2028" message in a reformulation plan will be wrong for at least part of the portfolio, and butylparaben, which many brands would file under "SCCS," is in fact on the 1 February 2027 clock.
Treating a notified draft as law. The opposite error is just as costly. Limits and annex entries can change between the notified text and the adopted Regulation. Plan on the draft, but do not print artwork or release batches on it until the Official Journal text is out.
The bigger picture: from classification to ban
Omnibus IX is a good example of a pattern that will keep repeating. A harmonised CMR classification under the CLP Regulation is published first. The Cosmetics Regulation then follows with a prohibition. We covered how the political agreement on Omnibus VI changes the timing of that second step for future bans; Omnibus IX shows the current mechanism at work, with the 23rd ATP feeding directly into a date of 1 February 2027.
The pipeline behind it is already moving. On 29 July 2026 the SCCS agreed to assess p-cymene and cuminaldehyde, two fragrance-related substances for which ECHA's Committee for Risk Assessment has proposed a reprotoxic 1B classification, with nine months to deliver its opinions. The same logic applies to the Galaxolide discussion we covered in June. Brands that track classifications at ECHA, rather than waiting for the Cosmetics Regulation to catch up, get months of lead time.
A practical checklist
List every product containing CBD, BHA, benzophenone-1 or -2, Basic Brown 16, Basic Blue 99, nano hydroxyapatite, butylparaben, dinitrogen oxide or any mercury-based preservative.
Request written specifications from suppliers covering BHA content, THC impurity levels in CBD, nanomaterial particle specifications, and the presence of any of the 11 CMR substances, including in propellants and nail monomers.
Check eyelash and eye-area products for prostaglandin analogues, including "growth serum" claims.
Sort each ingredient into the CMR track or the SCCS track, and plan CMR-track products on the assumption that shelf stock must comply on 1 February 2027.
Review the Product Information File and the Cosmetic Product Safety Report for each affected product; both will need updating once the Regulation is adopted.
Set a reminder to re-check the Official Journal for the adopted text before final artwork and production runs.
If you are not sure which of your products sit on which track, or what a reformulation would do to your Product Information File, we can map it for you. Get in touch.
Comments