ISBA monitoring European cosmetics law changes
23 Apr 2008
Through our European networks, ISBA has become aware of a proposal to amend the 1976 Cosmetics Directive (76/768/EEC) and is monitoring developments on behalf of members. The European Commission presented its proposal in February 2008.
While we are advised by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) that the proposal itself is not particularly controversial and has been welcomed by COLIPA, the EU cosmetics industry association, we thought it useful to forward on to you the WFA’s analysis of specific implications for cosmetics marketing.
Article 16.1 of the proposal introduces the possibility of making use of harmonized standards for claims in the marketing of cosmetic products. These would include the use of ‘text, names, trade marks, pictures and figurative or other signs’, and would cover also ‘implied’ claims. The article does not specify any such standards, but would give a legal basis for mandating the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) to set such standards.
In practice this means that claims (in advertising, marketing, labeling) of cosmetic products may become regulated at EU level, on the basis of CEN standards. This will not happen for a while yet: first the Commission proposal for the review of the Cosmetics Directive must go through co-decision with the European Parliament and the Member States (typically about two years), then CEN must be given the mandate to standardize, which in itself is a lengthy process. Furthermore, CEN will not be given a mandate to standardize all cosmetics claims. Instead standardization will be done on a case-by-case basis as needed (e.g. claims such as “natural”, “free of X” etc).
In this sense the Directive is quite different from the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, which created a mandatory authorization procedure for health claims on foods, and the risk seems more limited. That said, while the proposal is going through the EP (Rapporteur: Dagmar Roth-Behrendt; no report available yet, but vote in lead ENVI committee scheduled for 15 July; Plenary 2 September) there is always a risk of unhelpful amendments related to marketing.
