Beyond the Cosmetics Regulation
The regulatory landscape for cosmetic businesses is expanding well beyond the confines of traditional cosmetic legislation, with significant implications for compliance, sustainability choices, and consumer communication. We are witnessing an abundance of political agenda in areas such as environmental regulations, ingredient sourcing, and packaging requirements which are becoming critical considerations. Adapting to these changes will require proactive engagement and strategic planning to ensure compliance while maintaining competitiveness.
It is becoming ever more evident that it is no longer enough for businesses to ensure compliance with the cosmetic legislation. In particular, in the area of environmental issues, many other regulations impact the ability to market a product. As regulatory consultants we have been monitoring those initiatives over time, and we are now starting our journey to support customers to navigate this complex landscape.
For instance, in the EU, we estimate that if you are compliant with the EU Cosmetic Products Regulation, you will be only 10% through your regulatory compliance journey as the European Green Deal and its wide-reaching policies start to take effect. For example:
Packaging minimisation and recyclability
Impurities in ingredients and packaging
REACH restrictions on ingredients…
On 12 November, Olivia and I had the privilege to present an Inform session at the SCS Formulate Event on the regulatory challenges faced by cosmetic businesses which go beyond the cosmetic legislation. For us at Bloom those challenges are the highlight of the last couple of years. We are now seeing a new regulatory landscape taking place that is likely to be fully established by as early as 2030.
We know that not everyone would have been able to attend our SCS session and so we’d like to share with you a summary of the topics discussed and a copy of our presentation.
REACH Restrictions
The EU Cosmetics Regulation focuses on human safety and so any need to restrict a substance in terms of worker exposure or environmental impact must be met through the REACH Regulation. To date, we have already seen restrictions on cyclomethicones (D4/D5/D6) and microplastics, both of which are in their transition periods. Additionally, some sub-groups of PFAS materials have already been restricted and the discussions on a general ban on PFAS (not just in cosmetics) is ongoing.
Ingredient Sourcing Restrictions
Under the EU Deforestation Regulation we see restrictions on specific commodities and products, in particular prohibiting the introduction into the market, marketing, or exporting of materials such as palm oil (and derivatives) that have been produced as a result of deforestation. Such restrictions could disrupt the supply of many materials within scope of the Regulation and impact availability once the Regulation applies (currently under discussion to be postponed 2025/2026).
Communication with Consumers
With the General Product Safety Regulations applicable from December 2024, the addition of precautionary information within online listings will apply (e.g. warnings, RP details and ingredient lists) but perhaps the main topic of discussion centres around green claims. With the EU Directive on empowering consumers already published and the Green Claims Directive currently making its way through the legislative process, we can anticipate a set of new obligations when making environmental claims and an increase in authority interest.
Packaging
Perhaps one of the most impactful areas of upcoming legislation is around packaging and packaging waste. The EU’s Directive on packaging and packaging waste has been in place for three decades and already contains a number of obligations such as packaging minimisation, restrictions on heavy metals and noxious substances and provisions for Member States to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility obligations to facilitate the collection and processing of packaging waste.
Under the proposals for a revised Regulation on packaging and packaging waste, we can see a strengthening of the existing requirements but also an introduction of obligations that will require many changes to the packaging used within our industry. For example, deadlines for the incorporation of a minimum threshold of recycled content in plastic packaging and for ALL packaging placed on the market to be recyclable. The current draft of the legislation sets these deadlines at 2030, which is really not that far away!
We hope this summary provides valuable insights, and we encourage you to explore our presentation for further details.
If you would like to discuss how we can help you and your brand to navigate these challenges, please get in touch. We can offer general support and advice or you may find one of our specific ‘Green Deal’ services of interest:
Green Deal Readiness Audit (Ingredients and/or packaging and claims focus)
Individual packaging/component review for current packaging and packaging waste compliance.
Amanda Isom