UK | Brexit transition: new rules for 2021

Eurofins newsflash Cosmetics and Personal Care

Brexit transition: new rules for 2021

On 20 November 2020, the UK government published Guidance about cosmetic products.

This guide is for businesses placing cosmetics products on the market in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and it seeks to provide practical advice with respect to the Regulation as it will apply in Great Britain from 1 January 2021.

Main changes to the cosmetic regulation that will take effect from the end of the Transition period on 31 December 2020 are:

A Responsible Person based in the UK
An up-to-date Product Information File (PIF) must be maintained in English.
A 2-year transition period for labelling of the products where businesses have to include the UK Responsible Person details provided the EU responsible person details are included.
Notification of cosmetic products to Secretary of State (via UK’s Submit Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (SCPN) service).
Serious Undesirable Effects (SUEs) should be notified on the new UK SUE.
A cosmetic product containing nanomaterials not used for the purposes of colorant, preservative, or UV-filter must be notified to the Secretary of State, via the UK’s SCPN Portal by the Responsible Person 6 months prior to it being placed on the GB market.
From 1 January 2021, UK Businesses who bring cosmetic products into GB from an EU Member State will become ‘importers’ where they would previously have been ‘distributors’. The importer, whether from the EU or another country, becomes a Responsible Person by default, although they may appoint an agent to act as the Responsible Person for them.
The government has committed to deliver unfettered access for qualifying Northern Ireland goods to the rest of the UK market.
Northern Ireland businesses who are Responsible Persons, must notify the GB regulator via the UK Submit Cosmetic Product Notification (SCPN) service with the cosmetics’ ingredients and alert the GB regulator if their product is found to be unsafe.

For more information, consult the guidance on Regulation 2009/1223 and the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013 here and Guidance Submit cosmetic product notification here.

There is separate guidance available on the UK website for placing products on the market in Northern Ireland. Consult here.