We’ve been talking about it for almost three years now: the targeted revision of the European Cosmetics Regulation has been analysed, prepared, discussed… much discussed… so much so that it is still being discussed today. And it was discussed again at the 8th conference on cosmetics regulation and compliance organised on 26 and 27 February 2024 in Brussels by ERPA (the European Cosmetics Responsible Persons Association). Two speakers opened the debates: Hans Ingels, Head of Unit at the European Commission, and Gerald Renner, Director of Technical Regulatory Affairs at Cosmetics Europe.
As a reminder, the aim of this “targeted” revision was (and still is for the time being) to amend certain articles of the Regulation, without replacing it entirely with another text. It has been a long process, involving several consultations, impact assessments, etc., culminating in a proposal from the Commission. Technically, it’s there, but politically it’s a different story, as discussions are still ongoing on several critical points.
The key points of the revision
The objectives of the Commission’s proposal include:
• A ban on category 1 endocrine disrupters (EDs) for human health, following the same model as that currently applied to category 1A and 1B CMRs
• A clarified process for possible exemptions for CMRs and EDs, in particular to avoid the fairly short timescales (given the indispensable regulatory stages) available to the Commission for publishing an “Omnibus” Regulation for cosmetics, once the harmonised classifications have been adopted by the CLP Regulation, with the application dates to be the same (the idea also being to give industry more time to adapt to the new bans or restrictions)
• A new management method for substances classified as category 1 respiratory sensitisers and category 1, 1A or 1B STOTs, including consultation …
