We knew the main lines: they are now official and guidelines. In parallel with Regulation 655/2013 on Common Criteria regulating the use of cosmetic claims, the European Commission has published a guide for their implementation. With examples and details of some terms.
Guidelines to Regulation No.655/2013
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for the application of Commission Regulation (EU) No.655/2013 laying down Common Criteria for the justification of claims used in relation to cosmetic products.
Based on Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No.1223/2009 on cosmetic products (CPR), Commission Regulation (EU) No.655/2013 established EU harmonized Common Criteria in order to assess whether or not the use of a claim is justified.
Article 20 of the CPR applies to products that fall within the definition of a cosmetic product under Article 2 of the CPR1. The Common Criteria only come into play when it has been assessed that the product in question is indeed a cosmetic product. It is for the national competent authorities and national courts to decide on a case-by-case basis which regulatory framework applies.
In order to ensure harmonization across the single market as regards qualification of products, various guidance documents have been produced by the European Commission on the delimitation between cosmetic products and other product categories (e.g. between cosmetics and medicines2, between cosmetics and biocidal products3, and between cosmetics and other products4 in order to determine whether the product …
