The cosmetics sector depends on two market surveillance and supervisory authorities. Both were at the 13th edition of the regulatory congress held on November 18-19 in Chartres, France, to present what they do and the results of their inspections. Just like the DGCCRF (French General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control), the ANSM (French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety) made an update on the non-conformities found on the ground and on the results of the inspections related to the use of cosmetics claims.
Once the DGCCRF representative had finished her presentation (see our article DGCCR cosmetics inspections: the results ), the supervisory authorities’ joint conference continued with Dominique Labbé, Deputy Director of Inspections at the ANSM and Vanessa Picot, Inspector for Cosmetic Products.
Dominique Labbé first reminded everyone of the values that prevail when the ANSM conducts a cosmetics inspection: impartiality, transparency, competence, rigour, commitment. ‘Values do not change according to the size of the companies’, the speaker explained , ‘and there is no presupposition given the previous inspections. An inspection only takes into account the observations made on the ground’. And the sole objective is to improve the practices that guarantee the quality and safety of health products, whether cosmetics or others.
Inspections are scheduled according to a prioritization notion based on risk and formalized on an annual basis. They can be of several types:
• Inspections required by regulations
• Follow-up inspections
• Inspections requested by third authorities
• Inspections as part of thematic campaigns defined according to the signals received from various sources
• Inspections after reports were received
The ANSM intended to have its inspection processes certified to standard ISO 17020: it has been accredited for cosmetics since July …
