Proposed tax on French cosmetics players not passed

The amendment was proposed as part of France’s finance laws for 2010 and was expected to be voted on by the CMP (Commission Mixte Paritaire) - the group employed to find a compromise when the National Assembly and the Senate do not agree - at the National Assembly on December 14.

However, the amendment was removed from the collection of laws debated on Monday, as the government claimed it was unnecessary.

Help finance Afssaps​

The idea behind the amendment, proposed by senator Mr Milon of the UMP party, was to help finance Afssaps, the French health agency charged with securing the safety of medical products, devices and cosmetics.

Milon argued in his proposal that in order to provide this service, Afssaps employs internal and external experts, inspectors and laboratory services, which the cosmetics industry in France does not support.

In addition, the proposed amendment argued that Afssaps is currently working at capacity with its current employees and this could start to endanger the success of its missions.

Under the proposal, cosmetics manufacturers, and distributors of products produced outside Europe, with a gross annual turnover of more than €763,000 would be liable to a tax of 0.25 per cent of their annual turnover.

Not in need of more funding​

A spokesperson for the National Assembly explained that the amendment was removed as Afssaps was not felt to be in need of extra funding

“Changes to 2009’s finance laws simplified Afssaps funding situation and the organisation was deemed to have sufficient funds to perform its work,”​ the spokesperson told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.