Informal Collaborative Provides Cosmetics Industry with Effective International Coordination on Key Regulatory/Trade Issues
At the December web-based meeting of the cosmetics industry’s International Associations Collaboration (IAC), the rotation Chair and Secretariat role was passed on from our colleagues at Council Association for the Latin American Cosmetics Industry (CASIC) to our colleagues at ACCORD Australasia.
The IAC was established a decade ago as an informal collaboration to provide a practical, efficient and effective means of both coordinating our industry’s approach to important issues on an international basis, as well to share information, expertise and other resources. The IAC has now grown to include the leading cosmetic industry associations from some 30 countries and holds one day meetings twice a year in conjunction with the usual (pre-covid) annual meetings of PCPC and Cosmetics Europe. It also holds at least one web-meeting as well as web-meetings of its various working groups, as well as hosting an intranet site for sharing information and materials.
The IAC is currently engaged on the following priorities:
• developing common positions on in-market controls that can be used with regulators across the globe
• aligning animal testing ban principles and increasing the adoption of non-animal alternatives
• coordinating approaches to sunscreen ingredient issues, microplastics, plastic packaging, and other emerging issues
• ensuring Certificates of Free Sale continue to be issued and promoting personal care products as essential goods throughout the global coronavirus pandemic
The IAC also provides a forum for our industry internationally to feed issues and information into International Coordination of Cosmetic Regulations (ICCR) process in which government regulators from the European Union, United States, Japan, Canada, and Brazil meet with industry and other stakeholders on an annual basis to work towards the alignment of cosmetic regulations. With the recently approved membership of South Korea and Taiwan, as well as a host of “observer” jurisdictions including China, ICCR provides an opportunity for our industry and other stakeholders to be in the room with the regulators of over 65% of the world’s cosmetic market!
Over the past decade, the development these two processes has made the cosmetics industry one of the most efficient and effectively organized internationally of any industry!
To ensure the IAC process remains cost-effective, the role of Chair and Secretariate is undertaken by participating associations on a rotating basis, with participating associations assuming their own costs.
Cosmetics Alliance Canada was a founder of the collaborative and was the third jurisdiction to serve as Chair/Secretariat following the US PCPC and Cosmetics Europe.
