On establishing the safety of cosmetic ingredients and products produced and/or marketed within the European Economic Community

By Balls, M.

In order to provide for greater assurance of the safety of cosmetic ingredients and products manufactured and/or marketed within the European Economic Community (EEC), without a significant increase in the need for animal testing, it is proposed that a Cosmetic Safety Review Committee (CSRC) be appointed to replace the Scientific Committee on Cosmetology (SCC), which currently advises the Commission of the European Communities (CEC). It is further proposed that a list of ingredients already in use be established, and that these ingredients then be ranked in order of need for safety review, on the basis of scale of use (tonnage), frequency of use (formulations), biological activity, etc. Proposals are also made for product safety assessment, and for the presentation of ingredient and product safety reviews to the CEC and the Member States of the EEC, via the CSRC.