CPNP notification for cosmetics: who must notify what, and when

The duty lies with the responsible person, before the product is placed on the market. For products manufactured in the EU that is the manufacturer within the meaning of the Regulation, that is, whoever manufactures the product or has it designed or manufactured and markets it under their own name or trademark. For imported products it is the importer. Both may designate another person established in the EU by written mandate.

The Commission describes the CPNP as a free-of-charge online notification system. Once a product has been notified there, according to the Commission no further notification at national level within the EU is needed.

To be notified: the category of the product and its name or names; the name and address of the responsible person where the Product Information File is accessible; the country of origin in the case of import; the Member State in which the product is to be placed on the market; contact details of a physical person; the presence of substances in the form of nanomaterials, with their identification and the reasonably foreseeable exposure conditions; the name and CAS or EC number of CMR substances of category 1A or 1B; and the frame formulation.

Under paragraph 2 the original labelling is added and, where reasonably legible, a photograph of the packaging.

Competent authorities receive the information except the frame formulation. They may use it only for market surveillance, market analysis, evaluation and consumer information. Poison centres and similar bodies established by Member States receive all the information including the frame formulation, solely for the purposes of medical treatment.

That is what the frame formulation is for: it should allow prompt and appropriate medical treatment in the event of difficulties.

First, establish who the responsible person is and fix their address. It is the address that also appears on the label and at which the Product Information File is accessible. Second, define the category and names, including every name under which the product is sold. Third, check the formula for nanomaterials and CMR substances of category 1A or 1B.

Fourth, determine the frame formulation. Fifth, have the final label and a photograph of the packaging ready. Sixth, notify in the CPNP before the product is placed on the market. The Commission provides a guide to the portal for responsible persons and distributors.

A distributor who makes available in one Member State a product already placed on the market in another, and translates any element of the labelling on their own initiative to comply with national law, submits information to the Commission themselves: the category and the names of the product in both Member States, the Member State in which it is made available, their own name and address, and the name and address of the responsible person.

Translation alone does not make the distributor the responsible person. That happens when the distributor places the product on the market under their own name or trademark, or modifies it in such a way that compliance with the requirements may be affected.

Cosmetic products containing nanomaterials are notified under Article 16, in addition to the notification under Article 13, six months before being placed on the market. The CPNP has a separate module for this. The Regulation provides for exceptions that need to be checked case by case.

If any of the notified information changes, the responsible person or the distributor provides an update without delay. That covers, for example, a new product name, a different responsible person, or a formula change that affects the frame formulation or the information on nanomaterials and CMR substances.

Is it settled who the responsible person is, and where one has been designated, is the written mandate in place? Do the safety report and the Product Information File exist for the formula version that will be sold? Are all product names recorded, including those for other languages and markets?

Has it been checked whether the formula contains nanomaterials or CMR substances of category 1A or 1B? Has the frame formulation been determined? Are the final label and a legible photograph of the packaging available? And is it defined who updates the notification when the name, the formula or the responsible person changes?

A contract manufacturer in Germany produces a shampoo for an Austrian brand, which places it on the market in Austria under its own name. The brand is the responsible person. It notifies, gives its address and the Member State, and provides the original labelling and a photograph of the packaging. The contract manufacturer supplies the formula information for this.

A year later a distributor makes the shampoo available in Italy and translates the labelling on their own initiative. The distributor submits the information under Article 13(3) to the Commission. The brand remains the responsible person.

The address in the portal differs from the one on the label. The label is not yet final although it is notified along with the product. Not all product names and variants are recorded. The formula was changed after notification without checking the notified information.

And: notification is mistaken for approval. It replaces neither the safety report nor the Product Information File. Both must exist before the product is placed on the market.