During an investigation targeting very small businesses in the French cosmetics sector, the DGCCRF noted an overall insufficient level of knowledge and understanding of regulatory provisions among these small operators new to the market, emphasizing that they are, by definition, at higher risk of non-compliance and ignorance of regulations.
The DGCCRF inspected 147 cosmetics establishments, targeting very small businesses (TPE) that are new to the sector, to check the quality of the Product Information Files (PIF) that they must compile for each cosmetic product prior to its release on the market in order to guarantee consumer safety. Just over 200 PIFs were examined during this investigation.
The shortcomings identified
While 26 were able to submit complete or nearly complete files, 26 had no files at all, while most operators submitted incomplete, inconsistent, outdated, or even post-marketing PIFs.
Absence of PIF
A brand specializing in nail care, with a strong social media presence, offered 51 products for sale, some of which were intended for professional use only, without any associated PIFs. An inspection of another operator revealed that it had marketed its products without waiting for the process of creating PIFs to be completed…
Unjustified claims
In many PIFs, the justification for the product’s claimed effects was absent or insufficient. For example, one operator justified the claim of “regenerative” properties on the basis of bibliographical references from a sales website or Wikipedia. The PIF of another company, which manufactures products on demand, merely presented the product’s …
