This news update on the interface between REACH and the Cosmetics Regulation is brought to you by ECHA.
Substances used in cosmetic products may need to be registered under REACH but, under certain circumstances registrants may not have to carry out new tests on animals. Answers to questions on the interface between REACH and the Cosmetics Regulation are available on ECHA’s website.
To meet the requirements of the new Cosmetics Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009) cosmetic products are prohibited to be placed on the market where the final formulation, ingredients in a final formulation or a finished product, have been subject to animal testing. Those same chemical ingredients may, however, also need to be registered under REACH. This has created some uncertainty about whether testing on animals can take place in order to comply with REACH, or whether it should not, in order to comply with the Cosmetics Regulation.
Registrants of substances registered exclusively for cosmetic use will still have to provide the required information under REACH wherever possible, by using alternatives to animal testing (such as computer modelling, read-across, weight of evidence etc.).
For more inforamtion on the interface between REACH and the Cosmetics Regulation please visit the ECHA link above. Please contact Nexreg for Regulatory Services.