John Greiss
Dec 19, 2023
Products that make health claims for a skin condition, for example, face stricter requirements and are regulated as a drug rather than as a cosmetic, says John Greiss while participating as part of a roundtable discussion hosted by Risk & Compliance magazine.
“Being regulated as a drug will require the manufacturer to make submissions and obtain an approval for the product prior to sales,” says John. “A more complex approval process is required where the product includes an ingredient or chemical that has not been imported or sold in Canada before.”
John says cosmetic regulations are also changing and Health Canada is ramping up enforcement measures to ensure cosmetics and personal care products are meeting quality, safety and labelling requirements. “It’s important to have a strong regulatory approval process at each of the product composition, label design and manufacturing process,” he says. “The manufacturer must also be able to demonstrate good manufacturing practices for cosmetics or personal care products.
Finally, the manufacturer should have strong recall policies in place with its distributors to efficiently carry out a recall if the situation arises. Standard policies and procedures drafted by a regulatory expert in cosmetics will help mitigate against regulatory pitfalls in the future.”
Read the full roundtable discussion in the January - March 2024 edition of Risk & Compliance magazine