The fragrance industry is worth €10 billion with 50% of the market coming from cosmetics and toiletries and is a sector which thrives on creativity and innovation.
Julie Girling, MEP will be joined by Armand de Villoutreys, President of Firmenich Fragrance Division and member of the Board of IFRA, who will be speaking at the launch of an exhibition in the European Parliament titled ‘a sense of reality’, and taking a look at the current situation in Europe.
“In order to build consumer confidence it is vital we have effective legislation,” says Julie Girling, MEP.
“I myself chair an EP working group on this subject and have been impressed with the commitment shown by the fragrance industry and IFRA, to improve consumer confidence through voluntary initiatives.”
Project
The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) has a long standing set of Standards, and has embarked on a long term scientific program called IDEA – International Dialogue on the Evaluation of Allergens, with endorsement from the European Commission (www.ideaproject.info).
IDEA was launched last year and has been designed as an international multi-stakeholder effort involving academics, regulators, dermatologists, consumer organisations and industry experts.
“The aim of the IDEA program is to work together on the science of fragrance allergens and to establish agreed international protocols, methodologies and defined criteria for assessing the potential risk of fragrance allergens,” explains Girling.
“This program is designed to significantly improve the risk assessment methodologies and identify appropriate risk management measures in a transparent and collaborative way. I believe that is through approaches such as these that we will improve consumer confidence with effective legislation.”
Aims
The exhibition, which runs from the 2nd December until the 4th December in Brussels, is focusing attention on the importance of better protecting the valuable know-how of European companies dependent on fast moving innovation in a highly competitive world market.
“Protecting know-how is vital to us as an industry,” says Armand de Villoutreys; “And with such protection comes responsibility, responsibility for safety, quality and also the responsibility of transparency.”
“We need to consistently earn the trust of consumers in an open and effective way if we are to be granted the license to protect our know-how.”