Regulation change: the end of ‘free from’ claims for beauty and personal care?

European Regulation 655/2013 regulates the cosmetic marketing claims. On July 3 2017, Annexes III and IV were incorporated into this document, and following this change, the new elements of this will be applicable as of July 1 2019.

As such, from this date this Regulation becomes more restrictive, especially as it affects the claims “free from”, that is, those who claim that the product does not contain certain substances such as dyes, parabens, silicones, etc.

Cosmeservice, expert in Safety and European Cosmetic Regulation, is offering a free webinar to explain in detail the EU Reg 655/2013 and offer examples of what is allowed and what is not so industry players can be sure that your labelling complies with the new guidelines of the regulation. Details of that can be found here​.

Paraben-related free from claims no longer allowed​

The main feature of the shift in regulation is that as long as the ingredient is legal for use, a free-from claim related to the ingredient is forbidden.

This means, for example, that ‘paraben free’ (and similar) are no longer an acceptable claim, and so will not be able to be used on products within the EU.

According to Sharon Laboratories, a preservative player active in the personal care industry, ‘preservative free’ claims are also now not allowed.

“‘Preservative free’ is no longer allowed as a claim: until now materials with anti-microbial properties not in Annex V could be used to justify this claim (such as Caprylyl Glycol, Phenyl Propanol, and others), this is no longer the case,” the company explains​.

“So, although we could continue to provide many preservative solutions which are not listed in Annex V (such as Sharomix™ CPP, CPA or Sharon™ Biomix FREE ), the claim on the packaging of the final product should be re-considered.”