UK Responsible Person Service & EU Cosmetics Regulation Post-Brexit

From 1 January 2021, EU companies selling certain products will be required to appoint a Responsible Person (RP) based physically within the UK.

The current EU regulation (EC) 1223/2009 is being replaced for UK business entities with UK Statutory Instrument (SI) Product Safety and Metrology et. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulation 2019. This is separate from being a Qualified Person in relation to certified medicines.

As explained by Cosmetic Design Europe, a UK business will need to have someone physically located within the EU who is either:

• The manufacturer;
• The importer;
• The distributor; or
• Any person established in the European Union.

The requirement is also the same in reverse for UK businesses looking to sell the relevant goods into the EU.

Relevant Goods

Cosmetic products including skin care products, perfumes, shampoo and conditioner etc. are required to have such an RP within the UK or EU, but you should check for your own products whether you need such an RP.

The RP is responsible for complying with the UK or EU regulations for product safety, which one might imagine could prove costly to establish this relationship with a new compliance entity within the UK or EU. The RP needs to have at its office each product information file (PIF) available for inspection.

Businesses need to find out about mutually EU-UK recognised safety assessors for the products ongoing. We believe that current products do not need re-assessing as the UK and EU have said that products already assessed and available for sale in the UK or EU markets will not need re-assessing, but please check as this might change.

EU Cosmetic Product Notification Portal Registration (CPNP)

The UK is getting its own cosmetic products notification portal which will only launch on 1 January 2021 where all cosmetic products being sold into the UK will need to be registered.

The current UK business registrations with the EU CPNP are being removed on 31 December. Therefore, UK businesses need to act now to save those details and re-upload the same information into a new account with the RP’s information. The same information should be stored and uploaded to the UK CPNP once it is open.

There are 3 EU websites involved:

• ECAS (European Commission Authentication Service) website:
  • To register individual users

• SAAS (DG Sanco Authentication Authorisation System) website:
  • To set up organisation profiles (e.g. the RP)
  • To link individual users to organisations

• CPNP (Cosmetic Product Notification Portal) website:
  • To notify products

Cosmetic Product Packaging and Labelling

From 1 January 2021, UK goods entering the EU need to have labels that identifies the EU RP’s name and address. The UK is giving 2 years to update all packaging and labels in the same respect.

Products also need to adhere to the country of origin rules about notifying where the product is made so businesses will need to make an assessment about this aspect.

UK Responsible Person and EU Responsible Person Service Provider

We can provide a service to act as a nominee RP with full indemnity policy in place for EU businesses looking for a Responsible Person here in the UK.

For Italian service providers, we have partnered with Emvas and can provide support for any UK businesses needing an RP.

We also have an accountant agent in Germany who has agreed for such client requirements for UK businesses needing an RP in the EU.

If you need an RP or any advice relating to this matter, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team who will be happy to assist you. Please contact us on 02037 282 848 if you wish to discuss further.