Cosmetics Lobby demands a better US regulation

Under pressure from consumers and watchdog groups, the cosmetics industry’s main trade and lobbying group, the Personal Care Products Council, has asked Congress for more federal oversight of the industry and has offered its own proposals to pending legislation. The unusual move came amid widening consumer concerns about the regulation of thousands of ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products. “The group primarily took the step because if consumers have a question about this lotion being used, they will switch. It is a very easy market to pull them in a different direction. We think it is important for a structure to be in place to assure consumers if there are questions about ingredients in a lot of products and also give them a way to get answers about the safety of ingredients by scientific review and by a respected agency like the FDA,” says John Hurson, Executive Vice President for Government Affairs at the Council. The council will call for a new FDA ingredient review process regarding the safety of ingredients, a revamped method of setting safety levels for trace contaminants and FDA oversight of the findings of a non-profit, independent panel that has been setting industry safety standards for more than 30 years.