The CEAC (Cosmetics Europe Annual Conference) was held entirely online in 2021, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. This choice was made again this year, in particular, explains Cosmetics Europe, to take into account the impact of this pandemic on companies’ travel policies.
The programme remains in the same format as the face-to-face editions, with plenary sessions alternating with parallel workshops.

Wednesday 15 June

9.00-9.15

• Opening speeches
-> John Chave, Director General, Cosmetics Europe
-> Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, European Commission

9.30-10.45 - Plenary session

• The changing regulatory landscape
The European Green Deal’s Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) has triggered a simultaneous revision of three key pieces of legislation affecting cosmetic ingredients and products: Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Chemicals (CLP) Regulation; Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation and the Cosmetic Products Regulation (CPR).
Cosmetics will likely become more exposed to a precautionary, hazard-based approach under the core chemicals legislation. The panel of speakers will explore the underlying principles of the changing regulatory landscape, what it means for the industry as well as for the European economy and the consumers.
-> Hans Ingels, Head of Unit, DG GROW, European Commission
-> Frida Hök, Deputy Director, ChemSec
-> Emmanuel Guichard, Secretary General, Fédération des Entreprises de la Beauté (FEBEA)

11.00-12.30 - Parallel sessions

• A. The triad of CLP, REACH and Cosmetic Products Regulation - New links and dependencies
Building on the discussion in the opening plenary, this session will explore in technical and practical detail the issues presented by the changing regulatory landscape with experts from the chemical and cosmetic industries.
-> Jan Robinson, Chair of Downstream User, Chemical Coordination Group (DUCC)
-> Sylvie Lemoine, Executive Director Product Stewardship, European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic)

• B. Future of alternative to animal testing in Europe in the context of the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability
The cosmetic and personal care industry has been at the forefront of developing Alternatives to Animal Testing (AAT) for regulatory safety assessment for more than 30 years. The European Commission announced in its Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) that it will foster multidisciplinary research and digital innovations to move away from animal testing. At the same time, the revision of REACH has significant implications for animal testing. In light of this policy context, panellists will discuss how to further raise awareness of the science and AAT as well as facilitate their use.
-> Gavin Maxwell, Safety Science Advocacy Director, Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), Unilever

14.00-15.30 - Plenary session

• Are cosmetics essential?
This session will explore the essential nature of cosmetics and personal care products. The results of the Cosmetics Europe survey on the perception of our products among European consumers will be presented first. Afterwards, the panel of speakers will discuss the importance of cosmetics in our daily lives focussing not only on functional benefits of cosmetic products, but also their impact on well being, confidence and quality of life.
-> Stéphane Truchi, CEO, Ifop Group
-> Anna Segatti, President, La forza e il sorriso Onlus
-> Kacey Culliney, Editor, CosmeticsDesign-Europe

16.00-17.30 - Parallel sessions

• A. Ingredients under the spotlight
Ingredient safety remains one of the major key topics for Cosmetics Europe and its member companies. This session will provide updates and insights on the most impactful ingredient issues in the area of cosmetic products in the EU and will present the European Commission as well as the industry’s perspectives. The session will also try to offer a glimpse into the future by indicating which ingredients could move into the spotlight.
-> Rizos-Georgios Manikas, Scientific and Policy Officer, DG GROW F2 Unit, European Commission
-> Florian Schellauf, Director, Ingredients, Cosmetics Europe

• B. Cometic product information in the digital age - what is meaningful for the consumer?
The session will focus on the participants’ vision for consumer information that is meaningful, effective and empowering, and on the role of digital means. The representative of the German consumer organisation will provide insights into the views of consumers. The industry representative will present Cosmetics Europe’s key principles for good labelling and effective consumer information, which will take into account the results of a large-scale consumer survey conducted by IFOP. The latter’s representative will present the key learnings from this recent survey.
-> Stéphane Truchi, CEO, Ifop Group
-> Alexandra Borchard-Becker, Consumer Adviser, Die Verbraucher Initiative, Association of Critical Consumers
-> Anne Laissus-Leclerc, Scientific Director, LVMH Recherche Parfums & Cosmétiques

Thursday 16 June

9.00-10.00 - Parallel sessions

• A. The new Chinese Cosmetics Legislation - One year later
The new Chinese Cosmetics Legislation is formally in force since January 2021 and most requiements have become mandatory during 2021. The fundamental nature of some changes has created new challenges and practical problems for placing new cosmetic products on the Chinese market. The session will identify these challenges and discuss emerging solutions and practices.
-> Joanna Ru, Regulatory Director of Cosmetic Division, REACH24H Consulting Group
-> April Guo, General Manager, Personal Care Division, CIRS Group

• B. Is industry doing enough? Moving forward on environmental sustainability
Climate change is the biggest challenge the world faces today. With the European Green Deal, the European Commission has put this challenge and the green transition at the heart of its political and policy agenda; its goal is to make Europe the first climate neutral continent in the world and safeguard biodiversity, establish a circular economy and eliminate pollution. A collective effort is needed to meet these challenges. This session will discuss the role of industry, consider where the cosmetics industry is on its journey to environmental sustainability and what futher practical actions industry could take to progress further and how to support a whole industry transition.
-> Emmanuel Hembert, Global Cosmetics & Personal Care Lead, Quantis
-> Emma Trogen, Deputy Director-General & Head of Legal Department, Cosmetics Europe

11.00-12.00 - Plenary session

• Challenges for buinesses in the age of misinformation
We live in an era where vast amounts of information are at our fingertips and can be shared around the world in a matter of seconds. Misinformation is defined as false or inaccurate information, including unintentional mistakes, wrong captions, dates, statistics…
Being exposed to misinformation can have an impact and influence people’s beliefs. Even when reliable information is shared, some beliefs resulting from misinformation can be difficult and persistent to correct. Why is this the case? How does this impact businesses? What are the resulting challenges they face nowadays and what are those specific to our industry?
-> Mark Adams, Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation, Vice Medi

Further information and subscription
• See the Cosmetics Europe Annual Conference 2022 page on Cosmetics Europe website