Braille and Audio Codes on Cosmetics Are Decided by the Container, Not the Label

What signal has changed?

The MFDS is preparing a guideline that tells manufacturers which items to carry, and by what method, when braille or audio/sign-language conversion codes appear on containers and packaging. The stated purpose is to prevent misuse by consumers with visual or hearing impairments and to guarantee their right to information, and it is being pursued as one of the '2026 Food and Drug Safety 60 Key Tasks' announced on 2 July. A pilot with volunteer companies precedes the guideline being issued.

This is still a guideline that explains how to display—not a rule requiring braille on every product today. The e-label system moving alongside it is likewise still working through amendments to the Cosmetics Act. Read it less as a settled regulation than as a signal that now is the moment to try fitting these elements onto packaging.

1. Braille is a molding and application problem, not a printing one

Adding a line of text and adding braille are different kinds of work. Braille is formed as raised dots of a set height and spacing, so it does not end with the printing process: you first decide whether it will be produced through carton post-processing, a separate label, or the container molding itself.

Once the method is set, the rest follows. Which face it sits on, whether it collides with design elements already there, and whether it survives compression and abrasion in distribution all have to be reviewed together. Look for the space after the packaging design is finished and there is usually none left.

2. A QR code adds operations, not just a code

An audio/sign-language conversion code is not only a claim on print area. It functions only if the information it links to is actually maintained, so who creates and who updates the destination address and its content has to be decided at the same time.

That management load rises in line with the number of SKUs. If a renewal changes an ingredient or a usage instruction while the code still points to the old content, the display exists but no longer carries trust. Costing only the printing while leaving the operating owner blank is where these projects stall.

• Who creates and manages the per-product destination address
• The procedure for updating content after a renewal or ingredient change
• How codes are handled when a product is discontinued

3. The cost concern is a documented one

The industry's worry is not abstract. In food, which adopted the practice earlier, the share of products carrying braille and audio/sign-language conversion codes remains below 1%, and cost has been cited as the reason smaller companies hesitate to take part.

Applying it to every SKU at once is therefore less realistic than starting with high-volume products whose packaging revision cycle is already coming due. If a carton design change is already scheduled, that is the moment when the added cost is smallest.

4. Reviewing it separately from the e-label means opening the packaging twice

The e-label moving in parallel would replace the practice of fitting every detail into 5-point type: key items appear in larger type, and detailed information is reached through a QR code. Pilots ran with 6 companies and 19 products in the first round and 13 companies and 76 products in the second.

Braille codes and the e-label ultimately compete for the same container and the same carton surface. Reviewing them separately means opening the packaging drawing twice. For a product in development now, it is better to draw the layout once, as it will look after the display elements have been added.

5. Small sizes and gift sets are where it binds first

Placement is not difficult on a full-size product with generous surface area. The difficulty appears with minis, pouches, ampoules, and multi-item gift sets—small areas or composite structures. Which unit carries the display, and whether the outer box or the item inside is the reference, varies product by product.

Brands running many small-size lines and sets are safer setting the rule first. Deciding case by case leaves display conventions inconsistent within one brand, and that inconsistency is itself confusing to the consumer.

The first question for the brief

Write one line in the brief: does this product's packaging have room for braille and a code? 'Not yet' is an acceptable answer. What matters is asking the question before the packaging drawing closes—and that right now the decision can still be made without a deadline forcing it.