The ARB ruling in Haleon South Africa (Sensodyne) vs Colgate-Palmolive provides important, advertising claim decision-relevant guidance on the defensibility of superiority and health professional endorsement claims in highly competitive cosmetic and personal care categories.
In a significant ruling with direct implications for brand strategy and portfolio risk, the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has upheld a complaint against Dexe SuperBlack hair dye, finding that its packaging unlawfully exploits the advertising goodwill of Godrej Consumer Products’ long-established Inecto SuperBlack brand.
The Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BOMRA) has issued its Guideline for the Regulation of Cosmetics (Issue 1.0, effective 24 November 2025), formally embedding cosmetics within a structured regulatory oversight framework that extends well beyond customs clearance and product availability. While cosmetics remain exempt from pre-market registration, the Guideline establishes a clear compliance perimeter anchored in mandatory product listing, defined local accountability, post-market surveillance and enforceable controls on ingredients, labelling, claims and advertising.
In its 23 February 2024 judgment in Dike Geo Motors Ltd v Allied Signal Inc, Nigeria’s Supreme Court delivered a decisive clarification with direct consequences for brand-led market entry. Crucially for cosmetic exporters to Nigeria, the ruling dismantles the common assumption that a newly registered trademark can be relied upon as a regulatory safe harbour when entering Nigeria.
Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/78 materially tightens the EU Cosmetics Regulation by operationalising the automatic prohibition and restriction of substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR). Effective 1 May 2026, the Regulation adds 15 substances to Annex II (Prohibited Substances), introduces new restrictions and exemptions for silver, places Hexyl Salicylate under strict use conditions, and expands the preservative framework by allowing Sodium o-Phenylphenate alongside o-Phenylphenol under defined limits
