Brexit & Cosmetic Products: What’s Changing?
By Alex Fox | 04 November 2020 | Events, News
CTPA, voice of the cosmetics industry, offers the wisdom of Caroline Rainsford, head of scientific & environmental services, who breaks down Brexit for the beauty industry.
Is your salon prepared for upcoming changes to the cosmetics laws? Nail those plans with hints and tips from the CTPA.
The UK left the European Union on Friday 31 January 2020. However, not much has changed since then due to the ‘transition period’. The transition period allows time for new UK-EU negotiations to take place, ready for the UK-EU’s new relationship, which will start from 1 January 2021.
Transition period & negotiation timelines
It has been ‘business as usual’ during the transition period – EU laws have still been applicable in the UK, but the UK has not been able to participate in EU meetings or discussions.
Although the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 with a Withdrawal Agreement, this ‘deal’ didn’t set out any detail of how the future relationship would work in practice. Therefore, this transition period was really intended to be a time for the UK and EU to negotiate the terms of its future relationship, called the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Despite the complications caused by the unwelcome appearance of COVID-19, the UK and EU do have very different priorities for the future relationship. For example, fisheries and the level playing field are two main areas of contention. The level playing field basically means that businesses in the UK and EU operate to the same rules and standards for issues such as workers’ rights, business subsidies and environmental protection.
The deadline for extending the transition period was in June, so at the time of writing, the UK will leave the EU fully on 31 December 2020, FTA or no FTA.
Cosmetics in the UK after Brexit will still be safe
What does all of this mean for cosmetic products, including those used in salons? During the transition period, you won’t have seen any changes to the products you use in the salon because the UK has been following the EU Cosmetic Regulation (1223/2009). From 1 January 2021, the UK will have its own cosmetics legislation.
The CTPA has been working closely with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which is the Government department responsible for cosmetic safety laws in the UK. The future UK law will be very similar to the current EU law; the key principles, which ensure the safety of the products, will stay in place.
As future UK law will be very similar to the current EU law, this does unfortunately mean that companies will need to duplicate a lot of the work. For example, to be able to sell in both the UK and EU, companies will need to have a legal entity (the ‘Responsible Person’), established in both the UK and an EU Member State, the Product Information File (which contains all the safety and regulatory information about the product), will need to be in both locations, in both languages, the product will also have to be notified on two separate notification portals, and more.
Will cosmetic products look different?
The cosmetics in your salon may look a little different after the transition period ends, but the differences will be very small. For example, if the brand (the ‘Responsible Person’), has its HQ elsewhere in the EU, you may have seen an EU address on the label. Now, you will start to see only UK addresses on the label because brands must have a Responsible Person in the UK to sell within the UK. However, to minimise costs and disruption to businesses, the UK Government has said it will allow a two-year transition period for the labelling changes to be made.
Also, if the cosmetic is not made in the UK, companies will need to update the label to include the country of origin. Under EU law, cosmetics made anywhere within the EU do not require a country of origin on the label, but this is not the same in UK law. Other than these small differences, you won’t see many other changes to how the products look.
Does your salon sell cosmetic products to clients? Things you need to consider…
If your salon currently acts as a distributor of cosmetic products, such as nail polish, hand or foot moisturisers, directly to clients, it’s really important to investigate a few key points to make sure you will still be compliant after the transition period ends.
Compliance of the product labels
Now we know that product labels are going to change slightly, does this impact the cosmetics that you sell to clients?
The new labelling rules, such as having the address of the UK Responsible Person on pack, apply to products, which are newly ‘placed on the market’. Products that are already on the market, and will be placed on the market until 31 December 2020, don’t need to be updated. This concept can be a bit confusing, so to clarify, it applies to every single product that comes out of a factory. It doesn’t mean that if a certain brand has been around for years, then every product under that brand now and in the future is already considered to be placed on the market. Every individual product is ‘placed on the market’ at some point in its life, and this is usually considered to be the point in the supply chain where ownership of the product passes from the Responsible Person to the next person in the chain, which could be you as the distributor. If this is the case, make sure that the products you’re buying from the brand are labelled legally for the UK market. As mentioned before, the UK Government has said it will allow a two-year transition period for the labelling changes to be made.
Is your salon selling products, which are purchased from an EU-based Responsible Person? You may become an ‘importer’
Does your salon currently sell cosmetic products, which have been sourced directly from a brand based in the EU? If the answer is yes, then it’s really important to find out whether the EU brand has set up a Responsible Person in the UK or not. If the brand has set up a UK Responsible Person, this is good news, because as long as you buy through the UK operation, you’ll remain as a distributor.
However, if the EU brand has not set up a UK Responsible Person and your salon is the first importer of the EU products onto the UK market, your salon will become an ‘importer’ by default. Being an importer means you automatically become the Responsible Person, so you become legally responsible for ensuring the cosmetic product complies with legislation. This is not a situation you want to find yourself in unless you, and the brand owner, are fully prepared, as it involves many responsibilities. Alternatively, you may wish to check whether there’s another UK-based importer of products from this EU brand, which you could factor into your supply chain.
There is also a large piece of legislation covering chemicals, including cosmetic ingredients, in the EU called REACH. This stands for Registration, Evaluation & Authorisation of Chemicals and it ensures the safety of chemicals on the EU market. It does this through gathering detailed data files on each chemical, which are compiled by the registrant of the chemical (usually the manufacturer or importer).
After the transition period ends, the UK will have its own version of REACH called UK REACH. Negotiations are still taking place between the UK and EU to see whether there’s any opportunity to share data and information between the two systems.
Although it’s not clear exactly how the UK REACH system will operate, if you’re selling cosmetic products to clients that you’ve sourced from within the EU, you need to check to ensure you won’t have any extra responsibilities under REACH too. This is because companies will need to be based in the UK to be able to register substances under UK REACH, so you will need to ensure your EU-based supplier has got this covered.
The Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association
@ctpa
