IFRA publishes End of Consultation Letter for the 52^nd Amendment to the IFRA Standards

The Consultation, launched on 12 December 2025, covered the updated Guidance for the use of the IFRA Standards, the proposed new and revised Standards, and the Annex on Contributions from Other Sources.

IFRA thanks the many stakeholders who took part in the process, including representatives of governmental agencies and the whole fragrance supply chain. The breadth of the feedback received 'highlights the importance and relevance of the IFRA Standards, as well as the value of broad stakeholder consultation – an essential element of our Standard-setting process'.

All comments were collected, consolidated and reviewed with the relevant expert groups, including the IFRA Risk Management Task Force, the IFRA Natural Complex Substances Task Force, the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) and the Expert Panel for Fragrance Safety. The End of Consultation Letter summarizes the feedback received, IFRA's rationale in response to the comments, and how they will be addressed in the final Notification.

With the 52nd Amendment, IFRA will now introduce 48 new restriction Standards addressing potential dermal sensitization effects – 37 of them with an additional evaluation of systemic toxicity endpoints – as well as 15 restriction Standards revised to reflect updated RIFM Safety Assessments, a revised Standard for Musk ketone, a new specification requirement for Acetylated Vetiver Oil, and revisions to three Standards addressing phototoxicity.

Among the outcomes of the consultation, the revised furocoumarin Standard – renamed 'Furocoumarins in Natural Complex Substances' – confirms the exposure-based approach of a 1 ppm skin contact limit for products intended for deliberate sun exposure and a 5 ppm limit for other leave-on products, with the notification of this Standard leading to the withdrawal of eight individual Standards on natural complex substances. Following stakeholder feedback, the phototoxicity limits for Category 10B products, such as reed diffusers, will be aligned with those for rinse-off products. 

Two proposed Standards, on Oxacyclohexadecen-2-one and Dihydrofarnesal, are withdrawn after a review of new data, and the proposed Standard on Isoamyl salicylate is postponed to the next regular Amendment. 

The categorization of face masks remains unchanged pending a comprehensive review.

The Standards of the 52nd Amendment will enter into force 11 months after the date of the Notification for new creations and 30 months after that date for existing creations, with the preparatory phase extended by two months compared with the 51st Amendment. The formal Notification of the final Standards and accompanying documentation is expected to be published in January 2027, likely in the second or third week.

The End of Consultation Letter is available for download above and here. Members and partner associations are kindly requested to share this information with their respective members.