No need for product testing?

The C&T industry has recently seen the increasing need for due diligence, testing and protocol to better protect the consumer. Chris McLeod looks into how testing is not necessarily obligatory for all products

REACH. Cosmetics Regulation. Advertising Standards Authority. Over the past few years, these terms have become part of common parlance in personal care as the industry has moved towards a stronger stance in protecting the consumer through a necessity for in vivo and in vitro safety tests, claim substantiation assays and a full Product Information File (PIF).

The PIF is an obligatory compilation of technical documentation required for each cosmetic product to be placed on the market and must be amalgamated according to the EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009/EC. Cosmetics Europe, the trade association representing the European cosmetics and personal care industry, enforced the new Regulation in early 2010 alongside the existing Cosmetics Directive, however, as of 11 July 2013, the Regulation became the sole legislative tool for the European cosmetics industry. Each sku must have an individual PIF, and each PIF must have a ‘responsible person’ at the address specified for the product and company. The responsible person is in charge of putting together this document and ensuring that it is readily accessible in electronic or another format.