Cosmetic Plants, and What the University Means

In one line

"Cosmetic plants" is the University's phrase and it is in no statute. This chapter says so, and then answers the question she is asking.

In exam wording: the expression cosmetic plants appears in no Indian statute; what the law regulates is the cosmetic, defined by section 3(aaa) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 as any article intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled or sprayed on, or introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or altering the appearance, and including any article intended for use as a component of a cosmetic; a plant used in a cosmetic is a biological resource within section 2(c) of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and is subject to sections 3, 6, 7 and 21; it is a specified plant under Chapter IIIA of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 only if it is listed in Schedule III; and by section 1 of the Act of 1940 that Act extends to the whole of India and regulates the import, manufacture, distribution and sale of drugs and cosmetics.

MU's own phrase. She pairs them, asking about medicinal and cosmetic plants together, which is why this chapter and the medicinal plants chapters answer one question between them.

Saying it plainly

There is no legal category of cosmetic plant. A plant does not change its legal character according to whether the product made from it is swallowed or rubbed on. What changes is the regulation of the product.

So the question divides in two. How is the product regulated? And how is the plant regulated?

The product: what a cosmetic is

Section 3(aaa). Any article intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled or sprayed on, or introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and including any article intended for use as a component of a cosmetic.

Compare section 3(b), a drug. All medicines for internal or external use of human beings or animals, and all substances intended to be used for or in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of any disease or disorder, including preparations applied on the human body for the purpose of repelling insects such as mosquitoes; certain substances other than food intended to affect the structure or any function of the human body; substances intended for use as components of a drug; and notified devices.

The line between them is the claim. A product that cleanses or beautifies is a cosmetic. A product that treats, mitigates or prevents a disease or disorder, or is intended to affect the structure or a function of the body, is a drug. A cream for dry skin is a cosmetic; a cream for a skin disease is a drug.