Council Directive 76/768/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic productsCouncil Directive 76/768/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products.
'' OJEC'' L262 of 1976-09-27, pp. 169–200. (as amended) was the main

European Union law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

on the safety of cosmetics. It was made under Art. 100 (''ex'' Art. 94) of the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

. By agreement, it was also applicable in the European Economic Area.Art. 23 an
Chapter XVI of Annex II
signed in Oporto, 2 May 1992; came into force 1994-01-01. The directive defined a "cosmetic product" as "any substance or preparation intended for placing in contact with the various external parts of the human body (epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity with a view exclusively or principally to cleaning them, perfuming them or protecting them in order to keep them in good condition, change their appearance or correct body odours." (Art. 1.1)

Main parts

The main part of the directive was the different lists of substances in the annexes: *substances that are banned from use in cosmetics (Annex II) *substances that are subject to restrictions on their use (Annex III): such substances might only be permitted for certain types of cosmetics, or in certain concentrations, or subject to warning labels, etc. *permitted colourings (Annex IV) *permitted preservatives (Annex VI) *permitted UV filters (Annex VII) The annexes were regularly amended (57 times up until April 2008) to take account of new data on the safety of particular substances.

Animal testing

The 7th amendment to the law introduced provisions in relation to animal testing. It introduced a legal requirement to the labelling of 26 specific ingredients at certain concentration thresholds. It also prohibited the animal testing for cosmetic products since 2004 and cosmetic ingredients since March 2009. The amendment also prohibited, since 11 March 2009, to market cosmetic products containing ingredients which have been tested on animals. The amendment does not prohibit companies to use animal testing to fulfill regulatory requirements in other countries.

New Cosmetics Regulation

The Cosmetics ''Directive'' is replaced by the new Cosmetics ''Regulation'' of 30 November 2009.Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on cosmetic products
/ref> It has to be applied entirely from 11 July 2013 (with some parts earlier).

References

External links

{{Commons, EU cosmetics symbols
Consolidated version of the directive
(to 2008-04-24)

European Union directives Chemical safety Cosmetic industry 1976 in law 1976 in Europe