ICCR to synchronize international regulation

The ICCR is a voluntary, international group of cosmetics regulatory authorities. Members include the Food and Drug Administration of the USA, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, the European Commission Directorate General Enterprise, and Health Canada. The first meeting of the group will take place on 27 September 2007 in Brussels, Belgium and further meetings are expected to occur on an annual basis. The idea behind the group is 'to identify means to remove regulatory obstacles among the regions whilst maintaining the highest level of global consumer protection'.​ The members' responsibilities are to include the exchange of regulatory, trade, and market developments of interest; determining policies relating to the ICCR process; and adopting guidelines and policy statements developed by the group. In addition, the group will organise technical working groups, charged with collecting and analyzing information that is deemed necessary for future ICCR policy making. The group proposes the holding of preparatory public meetings before the ICCR gathering where interested parties can present their data and views, in an attempt to gain a strong input from the industry and trade associations. Indeed, with an increasingly global cosmetics market, and multinational companies releasing and marketing their products worldwide, the need for global regulations is mounting. The industry is responding with a significant number of summits and conferences that focus on regulation in an international market. The recent CTFA regulatory science summit invited speakers and participants to discuss the safety of cosmetics products and their ingredients in today's increasingly global market. According to the CTFA​, the European Cosmetics Directive's marketing ban on cosmetic products and ingredients tested on animals has brought into sharp focus the need to re-examine approaches to safety substantiation. In addition, the HBA Regulatory Summit which will take place on September 19 at the HBA show in New York will bring together international representatives from industry, government and academia. Meyer Rosen, the chief scientific officer for HBA Global Expo, said the summit would be a step towards building a harmonious global regulatory system.