Which compliance documents should travel with a colourant?

Four groups: CI number and permitted-use statement, heavy-metal report, microbiological report, and whatever the target market adds on top.

The CI statement is the core document. It has to name the CI number, the permitted application area — face, eye, lip — and the basis for the maximum use level. Our specification sheets carry the CI number per grade, and the COA should match it exactly.

Heavy metals — lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium — matter because pigments are mineral or synthetic and the impurity profile follows the route and the process. Microbiological data matters most for naturally derived colours.

The market-specific layer is what gets missed: extra labelling for certain CI numbers, notification requirements for nano-scale material, tighter purity limits for lip products. Check each market separately instead of trying to cover all of them with one dossier.

Build a raw-material compliance file: lock the grade, take the COA per batch, and refresh the regulatory statement annually. The cost of doing that is small; the cost of hunting documents during an urgent shipment is not.