This press release is brought to you by the European Commission.
As of today, cosmetics on shop shelves, both manufactured in the EU and imported from third countries, should be fully compliant with the Cosmetics Regulation ensuring strengthened safety standards and providing better information for the consumers.
Greater confidence should benefit producers as well as consumers. With many world leaders in this sector, and with over 4000 cosmetic manufacturers, the cosmetics industry is a major asset for the EU in the globalised economy. The sector creates directly and indirectly over 1.5 million jobs.
The most significant changes introduced by the Cosmetics Regulation adopted by Council and Parliament in 2009 include:
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- Strengthened safety requirements for cosmetic products
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- Introduction of the notion of ‘responsible person’ – Only cosmetic products for which a legal or natural person is designated within the EU as ‘responsible person’ can be placed on the market.
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- Centralized notification of all cosmetic products placed on the EU market – Manufacturer will need to notify its product only once – via the EUCosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP).
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- Introduction of reporting of serious undesirable effects
- Introduction of reporting of serious undesirable effects
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- New rules for the use of nanomaterials in cosmetic products
- New rules for the use of nanomaterials in cosmetic products
In addition, a new Commission Regulation adopted today sets out common criteria for cosmetic claims: Manufacturers wanting to put a claim on their product, e.g. “48 hrs efficiency” for deodorants, will have to follow six common criteria: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness and informed-decision making. National competent authorities will be able to check claims against these criteria.
For More information, full press release, and background material please refer to the European Commission link above.