The European Council and the European Parliament want to phase out cosmetics containing carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic substances (CMR) faster than the European Commission is proposing.
The co-legislators have agreed that, where a substance is not defended for continued use, companies will have — once the ban takes effect — six months to stop placing affected products on the market and 12 months before they can no longer be made available.
That is opposed to the European Commission's proposed 12 and 24 months, respectively, though still longer than the current rules, which set no staggered transition.
Companies wanting to keep using a substance will have up to 12 months from its new classification to request a derogation, and the phase-out clock starts only once that request is decided.
If the derogation is refused on safety grounds, the company will then have 3 months to stop placing products on the market and 9 months before they can no longer be made available.
If it is refused due to the availability of a suitable alternative, 24 and 36 months.
The co-legislators also decided against exempting CMR substances based on oral or inhalation exposure as otherwise proposed by the Commission and reintroduced the requirement for cosmetic products containing nanomaterials to be notified to the Commission prior to being placed on the market, but not six months prior as currently.
To accelerate the replacement of hazardous substances in cosmetic products, the Commission will develop guidance specifying the analysis of alternatives one year after entry into force of this legislation.
The provisional agreement must now be endorsed by the Council and the European Parliament before being submitted for a legal/linguistic revision in view of its formal adoption by the co-legislators in the coming months.
The co-legislators will work towards formally adopting the agreement as soon as possible, in the course of 2026.
