Chartres Congress: new cosmetic regulations in Europe
New allergens to be labeled in fragrance concentrates
One of the key presentations of the Congress was that of L'Oréal Research and Innovation on allergens. Indeed, following a proposal from the European Commission, the final version of which should be voted on at the beginning of 2022, the list of labeled allergens should be extended.
Although clarifications are still awaited from the Commission (e.g. when an ingredient is both a cosmetic ingredient and a fragrance allergen), the list of 87 allergens that can be labeled on cosmetic products has been decided and is part of the draft, as well as the deadlines for the application of the potential new text. It is therefore decided that companies will have 3 years from the entry into force of the new regulation before they have to market new compliant products, and 5 years to withdraw existing non-compliant products from the market.
For more information, don't hesitate to request the replay of the webinar made by our experts on the subject of allergens and their labeling!
Assessment and prospects of DGCCRF controls
In 2020 and 2021, the DGCCRF (Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes, the French authority for consumption, competition and fraud control) had the opportunity to conduct numerous control campaigns concerning cosmetic products.
In particular, the control of "free from" and "with" claims continued and highlighted significant anomalies. As a reminder, one must be particularly vigilant when promoting an ingredient with high added value: lack of proof, attribution of the ingredient's qualities to the finished product, lack of proof of the claimed effect in the Product Information File (PIF), etc., are all problems encountered by the French authorities. These are all problems encountered by the French authorities. Regarding "free from" claims, you will find more information on their compliance in this article. This type of claim is taken very seriously by the DGCCRF: Sephora, for example, was fined 200,000 euros following these controls.
In addition, the DGCCRF also focused on the substances banned in cosmetic products following the latest updates of the annexes of the Cosmetic Regulation. The authorities therefore sought to track down CMRs (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic substances) present in products.
Nanomaterials also represented a significant part of the controls. For more information on the non-compliances encountered, please see our dedicated article.
Finally, other controls were carried out, notably on cosmetics containing hemp (which has become fashionable in recent years and therefore sometimes leads to less vigilance at the time of marketing), and on bulk sales.
For 2022, the DGCCRF plans to continue its controls on "without" and "with" claims, as well as the "clean market" operation dedicated to CMRs and other regulated substances, as well as controls on nanomaterials. The novelty of the year 2022 will concern the so-called "professional" products.
Cosmetic developments on the international scene
The main presentation on international regulations concerned the new Chinese Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation (CSAR).
Tiphaine Daubert-Macia, from LVMH Research, went back over the implementation of the CSAR since January 2021 and the main lines of the regulation. The main change brought by the CSAR is the shift from a control before the marketing of the product to a control from the beginning to the end of the life cycle of the cosmetic product.
Composed of more than 20 texts, published and awaiting approval, the CSAR is reshaping the cosmetics landscape in China: change of responsibility for marketers, compliance requirement as early as the raw materials stage, sanctions that can go up to the banning of products as well as of the legal entity, reinforced controls, etc.
The next steps for the further implementation of the CSAR are:
- January 2022: simplified safety assessments will have to start being provided for products registered / notified after May 2021
- May 2022: products on the market will have to have their files adapted to the new format; labeling of new products will have to comply with the new requirements
- January 2023: raw material specifications will have to comply with the Chinese authorities' standards
- May 2023: all products will have to comply with the new labeling requirements.
Wish to know more about the compliance of your cosmetic products?
For more information, do not hesitate to contact Nataliya Muller or one of our experts!
