A headline says that FDA has published guidance on cosmetics records. Before treating that as a new rule, open the agency announcement and check the document’s status.
An example: FDA’s records-access guidance
FDA’s January 2026 announcement identifies the document as draft guidance about records-access authority under MoCRA. Read its explanation of records access alongside the underlying law. Keep the draft status attached when reporting what FDA has published.
The notice also gave a comment deadline for consideration before work on final guidance began. That date has passed, so retain it as a past deadline when describing the consultation.
Keep a short source note
For this example, the note needs the issuing body, document title, draft status, publication date, and link. Add the particular provision or passage behind the statement you intend to make. If the conclusion depends on an underlying law, read and reference that separately.
We keep those details together in our records-access briefing. For other US cosmetics documents, FDA’s guidance and regulation hub is a starting point. Check the individual document for its status and any later version before relying on it.
