Colipa’s Annual Report outlines research and regulatory priorities
The European trade body outlined the value of cosmetic products and the values that the industry stands by. Colipa said cosmetics contribute to quality of life providing feelings of well-being, protecting people from “extreme weather impacts” and supporting good hygiene practices.
Sustainability, transparency and empowerment were then identified as core values that the industry nurtures and emulates.
Time to invest in sustainability
On the subject of sustainability, Colipa called on manufacturers to respond to consumer demand for transparency and ethical sourcing by making their supply chains more sustainable.
“The economic downturn is precisely the right time to ensure efficiency and sustainability through the supply chain,” stated the report.
Continuing on the ethical theme, Colipa also gave a detailed progress report on the development of alternative testing methods following the ban on animal testing in March.
“Alternative testing technology has enabled this change,” said Colipa. “Clean technologies will help speed other necessary changes.”
However, commentators have expressed concern about the slowness progress on alternative methods.
Warning of slow progress on alternative testing methods
In her keynote message, Meglena Kuneva, EU Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, said: “Although considerable progress has been achieved for certain endpoints such as sensitisation and irritation, the outlook for others, including cancer or reproductive toxicity, looks like remaining static for several years to come.
“I therefore hope that more efforts will be invested in this area, including from the cosmetics industry, in order to accelerate the development of new scientific concepts and techniques such as Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSARs), in order to comply with given deadlines in 2009 and 2013.”
Colipa said the industry would be engaging with the European Commission in a future project that will see a total of €50m devoted to research into alternative methods in the field of systemic toxicity.
