Cosmed’s traditional annual regulatory meeting is changing its name. The two events, “The Regulatory Meetings” and “The International Meetings”, have been combined into a single event. Caroline Bassoni, Cosmed’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, explains the ins and outs of this change.
CosmeticOBS: What are the reasons for this development?
Caroline Bassoni: The first reason is a concern for consistency. It makes sense to bring these two events together under a single umbrella, while retaining the principle: a first day dedicated to French/European regulations and a second to international regulations.
The second reason is that the term ‘Meetings’ in fact only reflected one part of these events, the connection and network aspect. This is a very important aspect that we are of course going to keep, but our Congress goes further than that, since our aim is to share information on the latest regulatory news, always with a view to deciphering it, a very practical vision, the sharing of experience, and time for discussion with questions and answers. For all this, the term “Congress” is more appropriate.
And the final reason is that this event now has a truly international dimension: it can be accessed remotely, with simultaneous translation into English, and one of our ambitions is to increase our international partnerships, with associations and authorities too. And the term ‘Congress’ is much more comprehensible to our international audience.
CosmeticOBS: What will be on the programme at the 2024 Congress?
Caroline Bassoni: As always, the French authorities, with the DGCCRF, and the European authorities, with a representative of the European Commission, will be with us to present their latest news. At European level in particular, we should have some very, very fresh news on the revision of the Cosmetics Regulation.
At international level, the Canadian authorities will be intervening on environmental issues. As you know, transverse environmental regulations are increasingly important for our companies to follow.
We are also very proud to welcome the IBA, the Independent Beauty Association from the United States, which represents the interests of SMEs in particular, and which will be providing an update on the MoCRA. And also the British CTPA, who will be talking to us about the draft regulations over there, which are of concern to us because they could lead to divergences with European regulations.
CosmeticOBS: And will there be anything new?
Caroline Bassoni: We will still have a France/Europe day and an international day, accessible face-to-face or remotely, with a replay available for participants from abroad, who may be inconvenienced by the time difference.
And we’ll be returning to a format that we’ve been developing over the last two years and which is very popular, the round table, which gives different points of view on the same subject from different expert speakers, with the sharing of their experience and very practical and concrete aspects. There will be one on each day of the conference.
CosmeticOBS: What will be the themes of these round tables?
Caroline Bassoni: The first day will focus on the AGEC law: the reduction, reuse and recycling of packaging. This will be an update on the current situation, and an opportunity to put draft European regulations into perspective.
On the second day, there will be a round-table discussion on the United States and initial feedback on the MoCRA, its difficulties and solutions.
CosmeticOBS: What else can we expect from this Congress?
Caroline Bassoni: As part of our drive to build international partnerships, Business France will once again be our partner. Because it’s true that for companies, especially SMEs, 80% of which are Cosmed members, it’s important to export in order to find new market share. And Business France will be there to support them and present its export solutions.
See you on 27 and 28 March, in Paris and at a distance!
