Pharmacists, owners of a perfume shop, of a beauty parlour, of a spa, hair-dressers, retailers of cosmetic products … do you know that you are considered as “distributors", after the wording of the Cosmetics Regulation, mandatory since 11 July 2013, and that you have, indeed, to comply with new obligations? Isabelle Orquevaux, the Scientific and Regulatory Advisor of the French FEBEA, detailed this topic during a lecturer given during the 2012 Beyond Beauty Exhibition.
The European Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 completely replaces the former Directive since 11 July 2013.
It defines, a new thing, the precise roles of every actor of the cosmetic network, from the design of a product to its use, and carries the obligations that everyone shall meet. This is true also for distributors.
Some of these requirements already existed in the Directive on the General Safety of Products (DGSP), the purpose of which is to assure consumers of the safety of the products placed on the European market. However, some complementary requirements are more specific to cosmetics.
Who is a distributor?
A distributor comes as “any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a cosmetic product available on the Community market.”
This definition may be clarified.
Neither a manufacturer, nor an importer
Note that a distributor is defined by default, i.e. by what it is not.
It is not a manufacturer, i.e. “any natural or legal person who manufactures a cosmetic product or has such a product designed or manufactured, and markets that cosmetic product under his name or trademark.” This is a definition that includes the manufacturer, as the term …
