The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2008

Labelling requirements

12.—(1) No person shall supply a cosmetic product unless the container and packaging displays the following information in indelible, easily legible and visible lettering—

(a)the name or style and the address or registered office of the manufacturer or the person responsible for marketing the cosmetic product who is established within the EEA. Such information may be abbreviated in so far as the abbreviation makes it generally possible to identify the undertaking. Where the cosmetic product is manufactured outside the EEA, the country of origin must also be specified.

(b)the date of minimum durability—

(i)indicated by the words: ‘best used before the end of’ followed by either the date itself, or details of where it appears on the packaging;

(ii)clearly expressed and consisting of either the month and year or the day, month and year in that order;

(iii)supplemented, if necessary, by an indication of the conditions which must be satisfied to guarantee the stated durability;

except where the cosmetic product has a minimum durability of more than 30 months, in which case it is not mandatory to indicate the date of durability, but such a product shall have an indication of the period of time after opening for which the product can be used without any harm to the consumer. This information shall be indicated by the symbol given in Part 2 of Schedule 8 followed by the period in months or years or both months and years.

(c)particular precautions to be observed in use. The ‘Conditions of use and warnings which must be printed on the label’ set out in Schedules 4, 5, 6 and 7 and any special precautionary information on cosmetic products for professional use, in particular in hairdressing, must appear on the container and packaging;

(d)the batch number of manufacture or the reference for identifying the goods;

(e)the function of the product, unless it is clear from the presentation of the product.

(2) No person shall supply a cosmetic product unless the packaging in which it is supplied bears, in indelible, easily legible and visible lettering a list, preceded by the word ‘ingredients’ of the ingredients in descending order of weight as they are added—

(a)an ingredient must be identified by the name provided for in the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) or in the absence of such identification, by its chemical name, its European Pharmacopoeia name, its International Non-proprietary name (INN) as recommended by the World Health Organisation, its EINECS, ELINCS or CAS identification reference or its colour index number(1).

(b)the following shall not however be regarded as ingredients:

(i)impurities in the raw materials used;

(ii)subsidiary technical materials used in the preparation but not present in the final product;

(iii)materials used in strictly necessary quantities as solvents or as carriers for perfumes and aromatic compositions;

(c)perfume and aromatic compositions and their raw materials shall be referred to by the word ‘perfume’ or ‘aroma’.

(d)the presence of substances, the mention of which is required under the column ‘other limitations and requirements’ in Schedule 4 shall be indicated in the list irrespective of their function in the product;

(e)ingredients in concentrations of less than 1% may be listed in any order after those in concentrations of more than 1%;

(f)colouring agents may be listed in any order after the other ingredients, in accordance with the colour index number or denomination adopted in Schedule 5;

(g)for decorative cosmetic products marked in several colour shades, all colouring agents used in the range may be listed, provided that the words ‘may contain’ or ‘+/-‘ are added.

(3) The particulars referred to—

(a)in paragraph 1(b), (c) and (e) above shall be in English, but this shall not prohibit the additional use of other languages;

(b)in paragraph (2) shall be in a language easily understood by the consumer.

(4) Where two or more cosmetic products are supplied together as a single item, each product being in a separate container and the containers being enclosed together in packaging which bears clear and conspicuous instructions to the effect that the products must be mixed together in specified proportions before use, the particulars referred to in paragraph (1)(c) shall appear on an enclosed leaflet and an indication shall appear on both the containers and the packaging referring the consumer to the information in the leaflet.