EU Publishes Checklists on Cosmetic Ingredients

The EU Commission has published checklists for companies that want to market cosmetics and that must supply information to the EU before doing so, as part of the notification process. The lists help companies and managers of the safety inspection agencies check to see if all the required data is present and if the form and content of the dossiers are correct.

Cosmetics are subject to special safety inspections because they come into direct contact with the skin. The obligations of manufacturers and importers are defined in the EU Cosmetics Regulation. Notification is one of the obligations that the regulation places on companies. Notification means that before a cosmetic product is brought to market, it must be entered in a central portal of the EU Commission, the Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP). The obligation is defined in Article 13 of the EU Cosmetics Regulation.

The same requirement applies to cosmetics that contain nanomaterials (Article 16 of the regulation). These notifications are also to be entered in CPNP at least six months before the product is placed on the market. The German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit: BVL) provides important information (in German only) about the notifications required for cosmetics.

The information provided in the notifications on cosmetics and their recipes is tremendously important for poison information centers. It helps them offer rapid assistance in cases of allergic reactions and other incidents.

The information is just as important to the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). Its members inspect critical contents (specific dyes, preservatives, nanomaterials, and allergens) and evaluate the risks involved in using the materials.

That’s where the checklists come into play. They are to accelerate the safety inspection process and prevent submission of incomplete documents.

We are pleased to support you regarding all tricky legal issues related to the cosmetics regulation. Please contact us at cosmetic@kft.de.

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