The period-after-opening symbol or PAO symbol is a graphic

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

that identifies the useful lifetime of a cosmetic product after its package has been opened for the first time. It depicts an open cosmetics pot and is used together with a written number of months or years. In the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, cosmetics products with a shelf life of at least 30 months are not required to carry a " best used before end of ..." date. Instead, there has to be "an indication of the period of time after opening for which the product can be used without any harm to the consumer". The EU Cosmetics Directive defines in Annex VIIIa the language-neutral open-jar symbol, which manufacturers should use to indicate this period. The time period is most often represented compactly as a number of months, followed by the letter "M", as in "36M" or "36M" for a period of 36 months, written either onto the front side of the depicted pot or to the right or bottom of it. The letter "M" is the initial for the word

month A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, that is approximately as long as a natural phase cycle of the Moon; the words ''month'' and ''Moon'' are cognates. The traditional concept of months arose with the cycle of Moon phases; such lunar mo ...

not only in , but also in and many other European languages. It is also used in the

ISO 8601 ISO 8601 is an international standard covering the worldwide exchange and communication of date and time-related data. It is maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 1988, with updates in ...

duration notation. File:5 PAO 12M 2007-07-12.jpg, PAO symbol on a bottle of

mouthwash Mouthwash, mouth rinse, oral rinse, or mouth bath is a liquid which is held in the mouth passively or swirled around the mouth by contraction of the perioral muscles and/or movement of the head, and may be gargled, where the head is tilted back ...

File:4 PAO 12M 2007-07-12.jpg, PAO symbol, along with the Green Dot symbol and

resin identification code The Resin Identification Code (RIC) is a technical standard with a set of symbols appearing on plastic products that identify the Synthetic resin, plastic resin out of which the product is made. It was developed in 1988 by the Society of the P ...

on a bottle of lotion. File:2 PAO 30M 2007-07-12.jpg, PAO symbol on a bottle of

shower gel Shower gel (also called body wash) is a specialized liquid product used for cleaning the body during showers. Not to be confused with liquid soaps, shower gels, in fact, do not contain saponified oil. Instead, it uses synthetic detergents deriv ...

References

* {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204204602/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/consleg/1976/L/01976L0768-20051125-en.pdf , date=February 4, 2012 , title=EU Cosmetics Directive (76/768/EEC), Annex VIIIa, modified b
Directive 2003/15/EC

Practical implementation of Article 6(1)(c) of the Cosmetics Directive (76/768/EEC), Labelling of product durability: “Period of time after opening”

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, 04/ENTR/COS/28.

External links

What is the Period of time after opening?
– European Commission web site Pictograms Cosmetics Consumer symbols