MSDS for Cosmetics: Why Forwarders Ask and How to Get One

RU Статья пока только на английском.

SEONGWOO GLOBAL Published 2026-10-14

Contents · 5 sections

Step 1: Understand what an MSDS for cosmetics contains
Step 2: Check whether the law requires one
Step 3: Get it from the right source
Step 4: Read section 14, transport information
Step 5: Run final checks before an air shipment

An MSDS for cosmetics, now usually called an SDS (safety data sheet), is the document carriers use to decide whether a product is dangerous goods in transport, and it is written by the manufacturer or brand that knows the formula.

Korea’s Occupational Safety and Health Act actually excludes cosmetics from its mandatory MSDS rules, but airlines and forwarders still routinely ask for an SDS, not only for perfumes and sprays but for ordinary creams, as evidence that they are not dangerous goods. Section 14, transport information, is the part that matters.

The five steps below cover what the document is, whether it is legally required, who should provide it, and how to read it before an air shipment.

Step 1: Understand what an MSDS for cosmetics contains

An SDS sets out a chemical product’s hazards, handling and transport information under sixteen standard headings. The US OSHA rule at 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)¹ lists them in the same order as the GHS, from Section 1, identification, to Section 16, other information including the date of preparation or last revision. For cosmetics exports the useful sections are:

Section 1, Identification: product name and supplier details
Section 2, Hazard identification: the GHS classification
Section 9, Physical and chemical properties: flash point and similar data
Section 14, Transport information: UN number, proper shipping name, transport hazard class, packing group
Section 16, Other information: preparation and revision dates

Step 2: Check whether the law requires one

Article 110 of Korea’s Occupational Safety and Health Act² requires anyone who manufactures or imports chemicals or mixtures meeting the classification criteria to prepare an MSDS and submit it to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, except for items specified by presidential decree.

Article 86, item 15, of the Enforcement Decree³ lists “cosmetics under Article 2(1) of the Cosmetics Act” among those exceptions.

So finished cosmetics are outside Korea’s mandatory MSDS regime. Article 86 does not list cosmetic raw materials, however, so anyone handling ingredients needs to check each one against the classification criteria.

The reason SDSs are still requested at export is practical rather than legal: carriers need them to check for dangerous goods. Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department, on its dangerous goods page⁴, advises shippers who are unsure whether goods are dangerous to obtain the MSDS from the supplier or manufacturer and check the product’s properties.

Step 3: Get it from the right source

The SDS must come from whoever knows the formula: the manufacturer or the brand owner. Distributors and wholesalers do not hold formulation data and cannot write one themselves, so they request it from the brand.

Ask for one per product. Ingredients and flash points differ even within a brand.
Ask for an English version that your forwarder and overseas carriers can read.
For reformulated products, confirm the SDS reflects the new formula.

Step 4: Read section 14, transport information

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s SDS compliance tool lists the elements of section 14: UN number, UN proper shipping name, transport hazard class, packing group, environmental hazards and special precautions for transport. Reading it is straightforward:

A UN number and class are given: the product is dangerous goods. Perfumery products, for instance, are often listed as UN1266, Class 3 flammable liquid, and must be packed and declared under the dangerous goods rules for air transport.
It says “not regulated”: the product is not dangerous goods under transport rules. That statement, with the supporting data such as flash point, is exactly what the forwarder wants.
It is blank or says “no information”: that is not evidence either way, so ask the manufacturer to complete it.

Step 5: Run final checks before an air shipment

Check the preparation or revision date in section 16 is reasonably recent.
Make sure the product name on the SDS matches the commercial invoice and packing list.
Ask your forwarder in advance whether it also needs a separate non-dangerous goods statement.

If a product does turn out to be dangerous goods, shipping cosmetics by air as dangerous goods covers packing and declaration, and air vs sea freight for cosmetics helps you decide whether air is still the right mode.

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