About legislation
Legislative compliance is an important part of working with essential oils, aroma chemicals and cosmetic materials. We comply with all current relevant legislation and supply the necessary documentation with our orders. We can also supply IFRA certificates for our fragrance blends, if required.
IFRA
IFRA is the International Fragrance Association. It was founded in Geneva in 1973 and is a worldwide association of national and regional associations, estimated to represent 90% of the world’s fragrance market. IFRA set guidelines and raw material standards for the fragrance industry. Equinox comply with IFRA guidelines, and can provide IFRA certificates on request.
Cosmetics Legislation
The Cosmetics legislation in Europe is in a period of transition, moving from the Cosmetic Directive to the Cosmetic Regulation 1223/2009. The Cosmetics Regulation is far more specific than the previous directive. It requires more detailed information to be recorded and assessed for cosmetic products, and it changes the rules on who is qualified to make cosmetic safety assessments. The deadline for compliance to the new Cosmetic Regulation was July 2013.
Fragrances, as marketed to consumers, are just one example of a cosmetic product. Many more cosmetic products use fragrances or essential oils as ingredients.
GHS/CLP
GHS is the ‘Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals’. It is a globally agreed method for classifying and communicating hazards of substances and mixtures. It’s not a regulation, but will be implemented by different regions into their legislation. Europe is one of the early adopters, along with several others, and most global regions are well underway with their GHS implementation. In Europe, the regulation is the ‘Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures’, abbreviated to CLP. Equinox complies with all the requirements of CLP, including classification, labelling and packaging.
REACH
REACH is the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on 1st June 2007. It is the most major reform of chemical legislation ever undertaken in Europe with key goals of protecting human health and the environment. Although the term ‘chemical’ is used, most of the legislation is really about substances, which can include complex substances like essential oils.
In addition REACH provides the legislation requirements for Safety Data Sheets, which is applicable to substances and mixtures (formulations).