On 1 January 2021 the UK Government department Office for Product Safety and Standards launched the UK cosmetic notification portal. The portal named Submit Cosmetic Product Notification (SCPN) allows the notification of cosmetics, which are made available to consumers Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). There is a separate process for placing cosmetic products on the market in Northern Ireland.

As is the case in the EU, the notification has to be done by the responsible person. The responsible person can be either the manufacturer, importer, distributor (if they label the product as their own) or a third party, who is appointed by the manufacturer or the importer.

To submit a cosmetic product notification via SCPN, you will require the following information:

• The category and name of the cosmetic product
• The name of the responsible person
• Where the Product Information File (PIF) is kept
• Details of a named contact for urgent enquiries
• Details of any nanomaterials the cosmetic product contains
• Details of any carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction (CMR) substances the cosmetic product contains
• The chemical details of substances
• A summary of the ingredients
• A product’s label
• A photograph of the cosmetic product packaging

For existing cosmetic products on the GB market that have already been notified by the EU’s Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP) before 1 January 2021, will have until 31 March 2021 to notify cosmetic products using the UK’s Submit cosmetic product notifications service.

For new cosmetic products for the GB market that have not been notified on the EU’s CPNP and are being placed on the GB market after 31 December 2020, will need to notify these products using the UK’s Submit cosmetic product notifications service before they can be placed on the GB market.

For more information please visit gov.uk.