The SCCS Notes of Guidance for the testing of cosmetic ingredients and their safety evaluation, 11th revision, 30-31 March 2021, SCCS/1628/21

The SCCS Notes of Guidance for the Testing of Cosmetic Ingredients and Their Safety Evaluation, 11 th Revision (SCCS/1628/21) contains relevant and updated information on the different aspects of testing and safety evaluation of cosmetic substances in Europe. The emphasis is on cosmetic ingredients for which a concern has been expressed for human health. Indirectly, the Guidance also provides some advice on the safety of finished products. A general aim is to improve harmonised compliance with the current cosmetic EU legislation, Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, for which animal testing and marketing bans fully apply from 2013 onwards. This means that no in vivo testing of ingredients or finished products is allowed in Europe for the purpose of cosmetics. For this reason, the SCCS has closely followed the progress made in regard to the development and validation of alternative replacement methods, also referred to as new approach methodology (NAM). The SCCS Notes of Guidance are regularly revised and updated in order to incorporate progress made and experience gained over time, in particular on the use of NAMs, and the new methods and data that became available since previous revision (SCCS/1602/18) formed the basis of the current (11 th) Revision.

Automated summary

The SCCS Notes of Guidance provide comprehensive information on the safety evaluation of cosmetic ingredients, aiming to improve compliance with current EU regulations that prohibit animal testing for cosmetics in Europe.