A call from the President of the Cosmetic Valley to unite the profession, a peaceful speech from supervisory authorities, encouragements to exchange and have talks, both from the European Commission and industry representatives: the 14th Regulatory Congress held in Chartres, France, last November 16-17, 2016, sounded like a ‘let’s talk’ tune… which can be largely explained by the regulatory and political context.
The vast Chartrexpo venue had never been that full for a regulatory congress, with 550 participants representing 40 countries, from China to the United States…
Of course, in his keynote speech, Cosmetic Valley President Marc-Antoine Jamet sounded very pleased about it… but he also emphasized the fact that the objective for these two days of conferences could be explained, beyond quality, by the news that make regulations an increasingly crucial challenge for the cosmetics industry. As walls might get built again at some borders, national polls – from the British Brexit to Donald Trump’s election as the next American President – are threatening the free circulation of goods and free trade agreements, and certain countries like China are waging an economic war, regulations are becoming an instrument for power, which can both make things easier or prevent them from happening, he said… hence his call for ‘symbiosis’: ‘It is in the interest of our profession to get united. It is important for us to merge our energies, because regulations are the sinews of war.’
His call actually seems to have been heard and well-understood by all.
As an example, both Carlo Pettinelli, of the European Commission, and Emma Trogen, of Cosmetics Europe, …
