The new regulation will replace the EU Cosmetics Directive from 1976 which, according to the European Commission, had become a “patchwork” of 55 amendments without coherent terminology.
Aims of the legislative overhaul
By replacing 3,500 pages of legal text and 27 transposing pieces of national legislation with one regulation, the Commission hopes to ease the administrative burden of the law, remove national differences that do not contribute to product safety and rid the system of any uncertainties and inconsistencies.
Following the publication of the proposed recast in February last year, the European Parliament has raised concerns about its treatment of nanomaterials.
Concerns over approach to nanomaterials
At the end of last year, the Environment committee of the European Parliament voted for a new regulatory approach on the use of nanomaterials in cosmetics.
The Committee proposed that a comprehensive review of the current uses of nanomaterials be carried out. Any use of a nanomaterial raising concerns would be immediately subject to an SCCP (Scientific Committee on Consumer Products) evaluation followed by regulation.
New uses of nanomaterials would need to be systematically notified and be subject to the same controls. An annual report would also be compiled containing all new nano-sized ingredients.
Since then, these proposals have been through the legal mill and according to EU affairs magazine, the European Voice, the Council and the Parliament thrashed out a final agreement on nanomaterials last week (13 March).
CosmeticsDesign.com will report on the details of the agreement and the result of the vote later in the week.