Notification of cosmetics products in the EU is a pre-market requirement. This means that every product sold in the EU has to be notified through the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (CPNP) before being placed on the EU market. The notification is done by the responsible person (RP), and thought the notification, the RP informs the EU Commission and the EU Members states that the product will be sold on the EU market.
Cosmetic Product Notification Portal
CPNP is an electronic, centralized notification system, which is valid in all the EU Member States and which the competent authorities and poison centres have access to. Product only has to be notified once and the notification is valid in all EU Member States, as well as Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
Product notification represents the last step of the registration process in the EU. It is done only after the cosmetic products are compliant with the EU cosmetics regulation 1223/2009, which means that the product information file (PIF) is compiled and compliant. Products that comply with all the EU cosmetics regulation requirements can be sold immediately after the CPNP notification has been performed.
It is important to know that the CPNP notification is not an approval of sale. Once the notification is done, there is no confirmation from the EU Commission regarding its compliance. It is up to the responsible person and the manufacturer to assure the product is compliant before they place it on the EU market. You do, however, receive a CPNP notification number, which proves that the product has been notified.
CPNP notification requires certain parts of the PIF to be uploaded to the notification portal, such as basic product information (name, product category, physical form, packaging type, etc.), country of origin in case of import, member state where the product will first be placed on the market, information about the presence of nanomaterials or/and CMR substances, product formula, labelling and photo of the packaging. The notification form also requires the RP details as well as contact details of a physical person to contact in case of necessity.
In case the product contains nanomaterials, the notification has to be done 6 months before the product is placed on the market.