Manufacturing or selling cosmetic products

If you manufacture or sell cosmetic products in the Netherlands, these products must be safe. You must be able to prove this. Cosmetics are products for personal are that are used directly on skin or hair, such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, perfumes and makeup. You must comply with the European Cosmetics Regulation and the Dutch 2011 Commodities Act Decree cosmetic products (in Dutch).

Demonstrating product safety

If you manufacture cosmetic products, you must adhere to production standards (NEN-EN-ISO 22716). This ensures that you work hygienically and use good-quality raw materials. Manufacturers or importers of cosmetics must be able to demonstrate that their products are safe. They can do so by means of a safety evaluation performed by a pharmacist, toxicologist, dermatologist or cosmetic chemist.

Ingredients

You must ensure you use safe ingredients. Ingredients may for instance not be carcinogenic or toxic. The EU has a database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients called CosIng, which enables easy access to data on these substances, including legal requirements and restrictions.

Labelling cosmetic products

Cosmetic product labelling must include information such as the manufacturer, the product’s effect, quantity, ingredients, conditions of use, warnings and shelf life.

Access to product information

Manufacturers or suppliers of cosmetic products must be able to provide information about the product (in Dutch). If the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (Nederlandse Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit, NVWA) asks you for specific product information, you must make this information available within 3 working days.

Animal testing

Animal testing for cosmetics is banned in the European Union. The ban includes:

animal testing for cosmetics;
animal testing for the ingredients of cosmetics;
trading in cosmetic products which have been tested on animals.

Notification

Before you manufacture a cosmetic product or if you are the first to import it into the European Union, you must send a notification to the European Commission via the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (CPNP). This also applies to cosmetic products that contain 'new' nanomaterials.

Requesting an export certificate

If you want to export cosmetic products outside of the European Union, you have to request an export certificate from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (in Dutch).