Skip to main content

Disclaimer

Last updated: April 16, 2026


About This Site

Decoded Korea publishes data-driven analysis of Korean cosmetic ingredients, chemical regulations, and safety data. The content on this site is intended for informational and educational purposes.

Not Legal or Regulatory Advice

The information on this site is not legal advice, regulatory advice, or compliance guidance. Cosmetic and chemical regulations are complex, jurisdiction-specific, and change frequently. If you are developing, importing, exporting, or selling cosmetic or chemical products, consult a qualified regulatory professional or attorney in the relevant jurisdiction before making business decisions.

Not Medical Advice

Content on this site is not medical advice. Articles may discuss ingredient properties, safety classifications, or potential health effects based on publicly available regulatory data, but this information is not a substitute for professional medical consultation. If you have a skin condition, allergy, or other health concern, consult a qualified dermatologist or physician.

Regulatory Data

We cite regulatory data sourced from official government publications and public regulatory databases, including but not limited to:

  • Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS)
  • Korea Ministry of Environment
  • European Commission Cosmetics Regulation (EC 1223/2009) and REACH
  • US Food and Drug Administration
  • Other national regulatory authorities

While we make reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy and currency, regulations change, notices are issued, and databases are updated on ongoing schedules. Information presented here may not reflect the most recent regulatory status. Always verify against current official sources before relying on any regulatory information for business or personal decisions.

Product Mentions

Occasional references to specific products or brands are made for illustrative or educational purposes only. Mention of a product does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or evaluation of safety, efficacy, or quality. We do not accept payment or compensation for product mentions.

API and Data Services

Decoded Korea is associated with commercial data products on RapidAPI, including the K-Beauty Cosmetic Ingredients API and the K-REACH Chemical Substance API. Links to these products may appear in articles. The data in these APIs is sourced from official regulatory publications and is provided for developer and business use. API availability, pricing, and data coverage may change. Refer to the RapidAPI product pages for current information.

No Warranty

Content on this site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied. We make no representations about the accuracy, completeness, reliability, suitability, or availability of the information for any purpose. Any reliance on this information is strictly at your own risk.

Limitation of Liability

In no event will Decoded Korea, its authors, or its affiliates be liable for any loss or damage — including indirect, consequential, or incidental losses — arising from the use of this site or reliance on its content.

Corrections and Contact

If you identify a factual error, outdated regulation, or inaccurate data point, we welcome corrections. Please contact us at decodedkorea.lab@gmail.com with the article title and a description of the issue.

Intellectual Property and Content Usage

All articles, data analysis, tables, regulatory compilations, and original content on this site are the intellectual property of Decoded Korea. This includes but is not limited to multi-country regulatory comparisons, database query results, and analytical commentary.

Permitted: Sharing links to articles, quoting brief excerpts (under 100 words) with clear attribution and a link back to the original article.

Not permitted: Reproducing full articles or substantial portions of articles on other websites, newsletters, or publications without written permission. Scraping or systematically downloading content for use in other products, databases, or AI training datasets. Republishing tables or regulatory comparison data without attribution.

If you wish to use our content beyond what is described above, contact us at decodedkorea.lab@gmail.com.

Changes to This Disclaimer

This disclaimer may be updated periodically. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

Popular posts from this blog

Your 20% Vitamin C Serum Has No Concentration Limit. In Any Country.

Vitamin C serums are sold at 10%, 15%, 20%, and sometimes 30% concentration. These are high numbers for an active ingredient. For comparison, the EU recently capped retinol at 0.3% in most cosmetics. So how is 20% vitamin C legal when 0.3% retinol is the EU limit? Because no country regulates L-Ascorbic Acid concentration in cosmetics. None of the 10 markets in our database — EU, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, ASEAN, Brazil, Argentina, the US, or Canada — has a limit. 76 forms of vitamin C Our database contains 76 ingredients with "Ascorbic" or "Ascorbyl" in their INCI names. Vitamin C in skincare is not a single ingredient — it is a family of compounds, each with different stability, potency, and skin penetration characteristics. The ones consumers encounter most often: Form INCI name Characteristics L-Ascorbic Acid Ascorbic Acid Most potent, least stable. Requires low pH. The form used in 10–20% serums MAP Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate Stable,...

Retinol Had No Limits in Most Countries Until the EU Set Them in 2024

Retinol is probably the most recommended ingredient in skincare. Dermatologists recommend it. Beauty editors rank it above everything else. K-Beauty brands put it in serums, creams, and sleeping masks. It has decades of published research behind it. For most of that history, most countries did not regulate how much retinol a cosmetic product could contain. Canada had a limit (1.0% Retinol Equivalent), but Korea, Japan, China, the US, and the EU had none. That changed in April 2024, when the EU adopted Regulation 2024/996 and set concentration limits well below Canada's. We checked our database to see how this compares across 10 countries. What retinol is Retinol is a form of vitamin A. In skincare, it promotes cell turnover — old skin cells shed faster, new ones replace them. This is why retinol is used for fine lines, uneven skin tone, acne, and texture. It is one of the few cosmetic ingredients with clinical evidence supporting its anti-aging claims. Retinol is not a single...

Banned in Europe, Legal in Korea: 5 Ingredients That Split Global Regulators

The same moisturizer that sits on a shelf in Seoul could be pulled from a store in Paris. Not because of a labeling error or a packaging defect — but because an ingredient inside is classified differently by two governments looking at the same scientific data. This happens more often than most consumers realize. The EU and South Korea — both major cosmetics markets with sophisticated regulatory systems — frequently disagree on where to draw the line. The EU's cosmetics regulation (EC 1223/2009) maintains one of the strictest banned substance lists in the world, with over 1,600 entries in Annex II. Korea's MFDS takes a different approach, often allowing the same ingredients under specific concentration limits or without restriction. Neither system is wrong. They operate under different regulatory philosophies: the EU leans toward the precautionary principle — restrict first, revisit later. Korea tends toward risk management — allow under controlled conditions, monitor outcomes...