In an effort to hold the European cosmetics market to a higher standard of user safety, EU Regulation 1223/2009/EC has laid out an extensive and detailed series of rules and guidelines governing the processes each cosmetic product must go through before they can be introduced to the European Market. As each of these steps must be adhered to for the product to be allowed onto the EU market, it is safe to say that the Compliance Process must always precede the distribution process for cosmetics products.
It must be underlined that full cosmetics compliance can not be achieved from one day to another. In general, the EU registration process for cosmetics takes on average 3-6 months – depending on the product specification, the readiness of the Product Information File (PIF) or required testing etc. As one can imagine, no EU customer will wait such a long time for the products to be in conformity with the EU law. As such, the Manufacturer must always ensure that the regulatory part is fulfilled prior looking for European importers or distributors.
As per the above, the sooner a professional Responsible Person is involved in the EU compliance process, the sooner cosmetic products will be compliant and ready for the European market. If the Manufacturers decide to penetrate the market without appointing the Responsible Person, they may end up investing a lot of time, effort and money, only to find out that they are still very far behind from the market entry or even worst, need to redo almost everything as the EU RP will not be able to confirm the compliance of the products and complete the EU market notification process (due to non-conformities).
Some of the crucial duties performed by the Responsible Person (that should be concluded before the commercialisation) include:
- Notifying products in the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (CPNP)
- Ensuring compliance with EC Regulation 1223/2009
- Product safety reports
- Good Manufacturing Practices
- Providing information and documentation to demonstrate conformity as requested by the Competent Authorities
Obelis, having 30 years of experience with EU Regulations, will gladly take on the role of the professional Responsible Person and help you to launch your products successfully in the European market. For more information on the cosmetic product compliance process, or to learn more about Obelis services, contact us today or request a free quote!