Since 1 July 2019, and the joint implementation of the European Technical Document on Cosmetic Claims and the 8th revision of the French ARPP’s Recommendation “Cosmetic Products”, controversies and uncertainties as to their scope have remained very strong. With a central question: how would the control authorities take them into account during their inspections? The answer has just arrived, with the publication by the DGCCRF and the ANSM of “clarifications” in the form of recommendations.
In a joint press release, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) and the Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control Directorate (DGCCRF) have just announced that they have jointly developed recommendations on the use of certain claims on cosmetic products, particularly those claiming the absence of various ingredients or substances.
The control authorities specify that “these recommendations are intended to guide manufacturers, importers and distributors of cosmetic products sold in France on the use of this type of claims. The DGCCRF and the ANSM ask all these actors to respect their recommendations and to be vigilant on the conformity of the labelling of their products.”
The texts on which the authorities rely remain the Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 and its Article 20 on labelling, on the one hand, the Regulation 655/2013 on the Common Criteria that claims relating to cosmetic products must meet in order to be used, on the other hand, as well as the provisions of the Consumer Code that govern pre-contractual consumer information and loyalty.
The Agencies recall that the European Technical Document and the ARPP Recommendation, which have “raised many questions from professionals,” provide, certainly, “details on the application of the Common …
