New legislation for cosmetics in Europe will make our products safer than ever, writes Judy Johnson
Last week saw the marking of a beauty milestone, when on the 11th July 2013 the EU brought into effect new legislation which will require products to have much more detail on their labelling.
The new Cosmetics Regulation, enforced by the European Commission last Thursday will mean much tighter guidelines for beauty product labelling than we've seen before - and quite right too.
With a focus on safety, the new laws include the introduction of a rule that all products must clearly state a 'responsible person' with contact details on their label for the people who are in charge of ensuring 'product compliance and maintaining up-to-date safety assessments on file'.
So what do the updated cosmetic clauses mean for we beauty junkies? The changes include:
- Any products that are intended for sale will now have to be put through a central electronic notification system to be safety checked
- Increased safety requirements for all cosmetic products before they can be put on the market
- An obligation for the responsible person to notify national authorities of any 'serious undesirable effects'
- Tougher restrictions on the use of nanomaterials, colorants, preservatives and UV filters and explicit labelling of nanomaterials on the list of ingredients of any product containing them
The new laws are not the first to shake up the beauty industry this year - just four months ago it was announced that from 11th March there was a European-wide ban on animal testing which meant that no new product which had been tested on animals, in the EU or otherwise, could legally be sold in Europe.
We love that Europe is responsibly leading the way in the beauty world first with protection for our furry friends and now protection for us so that we can trust our beloved products are safe for use. 2013 might just be the beginning of a beauty revolution.