According to the label firm boss, management and transparency of cosmetics product information has big implications for any brand marketing its products in Europe as it affects how manufacturing and promotional activities are managed and monitored, as well as how information is reported.
Although penalties for non-compliance have still to be clarified, there are certain to be implications for any brand that does not get its house in order fairly sharply.
The global brands started their projects several years ago so any organisation that has yet to take the first steps will have a lot of catching up to do, and must take action now, Gleghorn tells CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.
The ultimate aim, according to Gleghorn, is to keep customers safer by allowing easy traceability of individual products and their ingredients, along with manufacturing processes, and consistency and depth of information that is provided to the consumers.
“Although the vast majority of cosmetics organisations doing business in Europe will be well aware of the new requirements, the reality is that few have so far achieved compliance,” notes the Kallik boss.
“Aligning yourself with the regulation is likely to be a substantial task, affecting the way you capture and manage data right across the product lifecycle – for every product you have on the market today, as well as those you plan to launch in future.”
Rule 1223.2009 has also been designed to streamline registration processes so that they are less burdensome administratively, for the various authorities and, in time, for cosmetics companies themselves.
With the new regulation is also the need to name a responsible person in Europe as well as being transparent and vigilant with labelling to demonstrate that restrictions around certain substances have been abided by.
“The biggest task facing cosmetics companies as they strive towards compliance is to do with how they collect and manage information,” continues Gleghorn.
“This must be done centrally, involving the creation of a standard ‘product information file’ (PIF) for each product; each PIF must be readily accessible for a period of 10 years after the last batch of a product was placed on the market; and firms have to submit required information promptly to the requesting authorities through an Internet portal, among other aspects.”
You can read more about what Gleghorn had to say about the ‘Responsible Person’ in part 2 of the interview later this week.