The US Food and Drug administration and the EC met at a bilateral meeting in Brussels today to discuss the need for increased communication between the countries in order to up health protection and allow easier trade of cosmetics between the EU and the US.
In terms of cosmetics, the new confidentiality arrangements are aimed to provide further co-operation on animal testing of personal care products and cosmetics.
"EU and US will be able to exchange early information to protect public health, whilst taking away stumbling blocks for trade".
"In the field of cosmetics, today's agreement represents an important step towards our goal of accepting each other's alternative methods to animal testing," said commission vice-president Günter Verheugen, European chairman of the Transatlantic Economic Council and commissioner for enterprise and industry policy.
The confidentiality arrangements are aimed to work alongside the new Transatlantic Economic Counsel (TEC) programme.
Launched in Berlin last week - the TEC programme was developed with co-operation initiatives in mind to harmonise standards and improve trade in the areas of regulatory, intellectual property rights, secure trade, financial markets, innovation and technology and investment.
As part of their regulatory mandates the new arrangements will require an exchange of information on cosmetics and medical devices.
The types of information that will be covered are set to include advance drafts of legislation and/or regulatory guidance documents.
Also included in the brief is post marketing data and information that could have an impact on public health, such as vigilance data or information about impending regulatory actions.
Likewise, any information on ongoing and emerging regulatory issues of health and safety in the US and EU also has to be discussed between countries.
With around seven per cent of all cosmetic products in the US being imported from the EU, and amounting to a trade value of almost €3bn per year and US exports of cosmetics to the EU amount to €1.5bn per year, the need for increased communication has been paramount for some time.
Initial cooperation between the two regions was developed earlier this year, with EU leaders meeting with George Bush's administration to discuss greater co-operation on trade, as well as energy, security and foreign policy matters.
The two sides said that they wanted to work together to find alternative to animal testing of personal care products in an effort to harmonise regulations on both sides and cut out animal testing altogether.
Currently animal testing of finished personal care products is outlawed in Europe, and, according to European Union rules, animal testing for cosmetic ingredients must stop once alternative options have been introduced, a feat that may be completed by the end of the summer.
This has presented problems for US personal care manufacturers, who follow less stringent regulations with regards animal testing.
However, the move towards greater co-operation in this area should help to ensure that regulations are more uniform, thus securing greater opportunities for trade in personal care products between the two regions.
