Public Information

Note:  Membership of this Guild is entirely voluntary and not being registered as a member is not an indication of whether a crafter is in compliance with the relevant legislation
 

Why is the Legislation important?


The legislation sets standards. It ensures that every ingredient in handcrafted soap & toiletry products is safe to use on the human body in a wash-on wash-off product like soap, or in lotions which may stay on the skin of long periods of time. Some ingredients are banned because they've been found by scientific testing to be potentially harmful. Other products are banned or restricted because they are potential allergens. The aim of the legislation is to protect the general public and the craft soap & toiletry maker.  The legislation is law, anyone manufacturing soap and toiletry products who does not ensure that they do so in compliance with the legislation risks being prosecuted.

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
 

Our contact at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), formerly the DTI, has reminded us of the requirement of advising them prior to putting products on the market.  For cosmetic notifications send to cosmeticnotification@bis.gsi.gov.uk

Amendments to legislation

Several members have been in touch regarding the fast approaching amendment to the regulations - We are grateful to Tony Eden-Brown (BIS Chemicals and Product Regulations) for the following links to the latest available guidance, below is a transcript from a recent email:

<<Start>>

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/c/10-761-guide-to-cosmetic-safety-regulations-2008.pdf

You should also be aware of the European Cosmetics Regulation which comes into force on 11 July 2013.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:342:0059:0209:en:PDF

The European web-site gives a lot of further detail

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/sectors/cosmetics/cooperation-trade/importation/index_en.htm

In particular the transitional provisions,

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/sectors/cosmetics/files/doc/cos_transitional_provisions_en.pdf

which relate to CMR substances, and nano-materials, but for most manufacturers primarily to notification requirement on the European Commission database, the CPNP

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/sectors/cosmetics/files/pdf/cpnp_new_en.pdf

Products notified under this, do not have to be notified to the UK competent authority under the Cosmetics Directive.

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How can I tell if products have been safety tested?

The seller should be able to produce evidence that their products have been tested by an authorised safety assessor.  These certificates are generally issued by a laboratory.  The seller may not be willing to provide copies as these certificates sometimes contain information about the product formula which remains their intellectual property.  generally though an ingredients list should appear on each product if wrapped or be provided if the product is being cut on order, such as from a soap loaf for example.  Its also a useful indicator that a seller holds product liability insurance as insurance companies would not be able to insure products that do not meet the standards set by current legislation.

 

 

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