The French Authorities will shortly publish a new legal requirement related to Phenoxyethanol-containing leave-on products (ANSM Decision of March 13th, 2019). This is an administrative decision triggering Article 27 of the European Cosmetics Regulation, the safeguard clause. This requirement will remain in place until a formal decision is taken at the European level.

The product labels of all leave-on cosmetic products (at the exception of deodorants, hair-styling and make-up products) shall contain the warning “Not to be used on the nappy-skin area of children under 3 years of age”, which can be translated in French as “Ne pas utiliser sur le siège des enfants de 3 ans et moins”. All products categories that are not explicitly exempted are impacted, whatever the intended usage (e.g. anti-wrinkle face creams will bear the new warning).

The transition period is 9 months from the publication date on the ANSM website. The publication should take place in the next few days. At the end of this transition period (~ mid December 2019), all impacted products available on the French market will have to bear the new warning.