Beyond Cosmetic Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, cosmetic products placed on the EU market must also comply with a set of horizontal EU regulations. These rules address product safety, chemical hazards, environmental sustainability, and marketing practices. Together, they form a comprehensive regulatory framework that shapes overall cosmetic compliance in the European Union.
Understanding these horizontal obligations is essential, as non-compliance in any of these areas can result in enforcement actions even if the product fully complies with cosmetic-specific legislation.
Ingredient Hazard Classification Under the CLP Regulation
The CLP Regulation governs the classification of hazardous properties of substances used in cosmetic formulations. While finished cosmetic products are generally exempt from CLP labeling, raw material suppliers must classify substances in line with CLP criteria.
This classification directly impacts cosmetic compliance, as substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic (CMR) are prohibited or strictly restricted under Regulation 1223/2009 unless the SCCS grants a specific derogation. Accurate CLP classification ensures that the Cosmetic Product Safety Report is based on reliable and standardized hazard data.
Cosmetic Marketing and Claims Compliance Under the Omnibus Directive
The Omnibus Directive, which amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, regulates how cosmetic products are marketed and how claims are communicated to consumers.
This legislation requires transparency in price reductions and explicitly prohibits misleading environmental and sustainability claims. For cosmetic products, this means that all marketing claims must be truthful, substantiated, and verifiable. These requirements align directly with the proof of claims documentation that must be included in the Product Information File.
By enforcing claim substantiation and fair commercial practices, the Omnibus Directive strengthens consumer protection and makes marketing compliance a core element of cosmetic regulatory strategy.
Environmental and Circular Economy Regulations Impacting Cosmetics
EU cosmetic compliance increasingly extends beyond product safety to include environmental responsibility and supply chain transparency. Several regulations address the environmental footprint of cosmetic products throughout their lifecycle.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation aims to redesign how packaging is produced, used, and disposed of. It introduces mandatory targets for reusable packaging, limits excessive packaging, and imposes design-for-recycling requirements. Manufacturers must also provide clear sorting instructions, often triggering country-specific labeling obligations such as the French Triman symbol.
The EU Deforestation Regulation focuses on raw material sourcing and environmental due diligence. It requires companies to trace certain commodities, including palm oil and soy derivatives commonly used in cosmetics, back to their origin. This ensures that ingredients do not originate from deforested or illegally converted land.
The proposed Green Claims Directive further expands environmental compliance by regulating sustainability-related marketing claims. Once adopted, it will require companies to support any environmental claim with scientific evidence verified by an accredited third party, significantly raising the compliance threshold for terms such as “natural,” “eco-friendly,” or “carbon neutral.”
The Expanding Scope of Cosmetic Compliance in the EU
These horizontal regulations demonstrate that cosmetic compliance in the EU extends far beyond formulation safety. Companies must also address chemical hazard classification, fair marketing practices, packaging sustainability, and responsible raw material sourcing.
Failure to integrate these horizontal requirements into regulatory strategies can expose cosmetic brands to enforcement actions, even when products meet the core requirements of Regulation 1223/2009. A holistic compliance approach is therefore essential for long-term access to the EU cosmetic market.
REACH and cosmetic ingredients
Brands often assume REACH does not concern them because cosmetics have their own regulation. It does. REACH governs chemical substances as substances, and cosmetic ingredients are chemical substances — the Cosmetics Regulation controls how they may be used in a finished cosmetic, while REACH controls their manufacture and supply into the EU.
In practice the registration burden falls on manufacturers and importers of the substances themselves, so a brand buying finished raw materials from EU suppliers is usually covered by its suppliers’ registrations. The exposure appears when you import raw materials directly from outside the EU, at which point you may become the importer of a substance and inherit obligations you did not plan for.
Two REACH mechanisms also reach into formulation. Substances of very high concern on the candidate list attract information duties, and authorisation or restriction under REACH can remove an ingredient from the market regardless of its status in the Cosmetics Regulation Annexes. Monitoring only CosIng and the Annexes will therefore miss some changes that affect your formulations.
CLP: when a cosmetic is also a chemical
Finished cosmetic products in their consumer form are outside the scope of CLP hazard labelling — you do not put hazard pictograms on a shampoo bottle. That exemption is narrower than it first appears.
CLP applies to the raw materials moving through your supply chain, which is why suppliers provide Safety Data Sheets, and those sheets are a required input to the safety assessment. It also applies to bulk product in transport and to products supplied for professional rather than consumer use in some circumstances.
The clearest overlap arises for products at the edge of the cosmetic definition. A hazardous mixture placed on the market — a nail product, a professional hair treatment, or anything classified for health or physical hazards — can trigger Poison Centre Notification and the requirement to generate a UFI code for the label. Where a company sells both cosmetics and chemical products, the two regimes run in parallel and need to be handled separately.
Product safety, packaging and waste
The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 acts as a safety net across consumer products. Cosmetics are primarily governed by their own sector legislation, but GPSR obligations around traceability, internal risk analysis, accident reporting and online marketplace information can still apply — and they have become more visible as enforcement of distance selling has increased.
Packaging and waste legislation is the other horizontal layer that consistently catches cosmetic brands. Extended producer responsibility schemes are national: placing packaging on a market generally means registering, reporting the packaging volumes you place there, and paying fees. France additionally requires the Triman logo and Info-Tri sorting instructions on the pack.
Beyond these, sector-adjacent rules can apply depending on what you sell: the Biocidal Products Regulation for anything making a disinfectant or antibacterial claim, the Detergents Regulation for cleaning products sold alongside a cosmetic range, and aerosol dispenser legislation for pressurised formats. None of these are cosmetic rules, and all of them are enforced independently.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to register my cosmetic ingredients under REACH?
Usually not, if you buy raw materials from EU suppliers who have registered them. If you import raw materials directly from outside the EU above the relevant tonnage threshold, you may become the importer and take on registration duties yourself.
Does my cosmetic need a Safety Data Sheet?
Finished cosmetics supplied to consumers do not require an SDS. Raw materials do, and your suppliers must provide them — the safety assessor needs them for the CPSR. Bulk product in transport and some professional-use products may also require one.
Does GPSR apply to cosmetics?
The Cosmetics Regulation is the primary framework, but GPSR provisions can apply where its own rules do not cover a particular aspect — notably traceability, incident reporting and the information required for online listings.
When does a cosmetic need a UFI code?
A product that is genuinely a cosmetic does not. A UFI is required for hazardous mixtures subject to Poison Centre Notification under CLP, which is relevant when your range includes products that are chemicals rather than cosmetics, or that sit at the boundary between the two.
Ensure full compliance with EU cosmetic regulations beyond Regulation 1223/2009.
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