‘The Party Is Over': Green Claims Requirements Among Many Regulatory Changes Coming To EU Cosmetics

Biorius CEO Frédéric Lebreux provided updates on EU Green Deal initiatives including revision of the Cosmetic Products Regulation, as well as regulations in development for green claims and ecodesign, at the Independent Beauty Association’s virtual Technical/Regulatory Forum.

Use of environmental claims on cosmetic products stands to be reined in dramatically in the EU under regulation on the way to combat greenwashing and other unfair commercial practices.

“The party is over,” said Frédéric Lebreux, CEO at Belgium-based cosmetics regulatory consultancy Biorius, in a 1 March update on EU regulatory developments at the Independent Beauty Association’s virtual 2023 Technical/Regulatory Forum.

He noted the European Commission’s March 2022 proposal for a regulation aimed at “empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and better information.” According to Lebreux, the proposal has undergone at least four revisions at the working party level and now is expected to be adopted in 2024-2025, followed by anticipated 30-month transition periods.

He highlighted three key principles under the negotiated terms:

• Generic/non-substantiated green claims will be prohibited;

• Green claims that are not based on a third-party certification scheme or established by public authorities will be prohibited;

• Making an environmental claim about the entire product when it actually concerns only a certain aspect of the product will be prohibited.

In January 2021, the Commission said 42% of “green” claims on consumer product websites may be exaggerated, false or deceptive, based on an EU-wide survey. (Also see "EU Commission Vows To Fight Greenwashing Following Website Claims Sweep" - HBW Insight, 2 Feb, 2021.)

Going forward, Lebreux advises against using vague and non-substantiated terms to market cosmetic products, such as “eco-friendly,” “climate-friendly,” pollutant-free,” and “green,” and recommended that companies obtain certification for environmental claims including “natural,” “organic,” “vegan,” “reef-safe,” and “clean.”

The Commission’s proposal defines acceptable third-party certification schemes as those that are “open under transparent, fair and non-discriminatory terms to all traders willing and able to comply with the scheme’s requirements.” There are questions as to whether a Commission-approved list will be issued.

‘Something very weird happened. The equivalent of God at the European commission level, they intervened. This is what we call the Regulatory Scrutiny Board.’

Another regulation in the works concerns ecodesign requirements for sustainable products. It would expand and replace Directive 2009/125/EC, which covers just energy-related products. The revision will address such points as energy and resource efficiency, recycled content, remanufacturing and recycling, carbon and environmental footprints, among other topics, Lebreux said.

A public consultation happening now until mid-May and targeted consultations later this year will help determine product categories covered by the revision – cosmetics are expected to be one – with adoption of the main legislation and technical regulations expected in 2024 and beyond, according to Lebreux.

‘A Nightmare,’ At Least At First

Those initiatives stem from the European Green Deal, which also has led to a revision of the Cosmetic Products Regulation. The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, adopted under the Green Deal in October 2020, advocates a generic approach to risk management [GRA] that would “ensure that consumer products do not contain chemicals that cause cancers, gene mutations, affect the reproductive or the endocrine system, or are persistent and bioaccumulative.”

Further down the line, the Commission could use the same GRA approach for chemicals affecting the immune, neurological or respiratory systems and chemicals toxic to specific organs. (Also see "EU Starts On Proposal For Tackling ‘Most Harmful’ Chemicals Under Revised Cosmetics Reg" - HBW Insight, 23 Jun, 2022.)

The CSS holds that exemption criteria should be difficult to reach.

Lebreux identified other objectives of the revision, including enhanced safety assessments for other cosmetic ingredients that take into consideration environmental toxicity, and a more challenging definition of nanomaterial (not including the solubility criteria), as well as the introduction of digital labeling.

The Commission’s CPR impact assessment was expected to enter into force in 2025 or 2026. However, the Commission’s Regulatory Scrutiny Board stepped in the way.

Lebreux recounted, “Something very weird happened. The equivalent of God at the European commission level, they intervened. This is what we call the Regulatory Scrutiny Board. Those people, we don't hear about them usually, and they decided to halt the development of the legislation. This is very, very unusual. Basically they didn’t like the proposal of the European Commission.”

He continued, “It's very difficult to know. Some rumors say the proposal was considered by the RSB as not ambitious enough, and they would like to include, for instance, the automatic ban of strong skin sensitizers.” (Also see "EU’s Planned Revision Of Cosmetics Regulation Makes For Uneasy Global Industry" - HBW Insight, 15 Nov, 2021.)

According to Lebreux, a new submission from the Commission is expected in March, and a new opinion from the RSB in April. “Which means that we can expect some regulatory proposals before summer,” he said.

That would put adoption on track for end of 2024 and enforcement in 2026 at the earliest, he said.

Among any number of potential impacts, Lebreux noted that useful silicones in cosmetics are “barely biodegradable, at least some of them, and that could be a big issue in the future.”

However, innovations such as B-silk from Emeryville, CA-based Bolt Threads Inc. make him hopeful for the future. B-silk, which is commercially available, is touted as “a biobased, biodegradable, and vegan polypeptide that has been shown to outperform silicone elastomers in beauty and personal care products,” according to the material solutions company’s website.

“So I think that this new legislation will be a nightmare, at least at the beginning. But some are quite confident that the industry is resilient and will adapt to the craziness of European regulations,” Lebreux said.