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What is the CPR?
The Cosmetic Products Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1223⁄2009), adopted in 2009 and applicable since 2013, is the European Union’s single legal framework for cosmetic products, building on a legislative framework that dates back to as early as the 1970s. It sets out the rules that every cosmetic product must meet to be placed on the EU market, from ingredient restrictions and safety assessment to labeling and market surveillance.
Why the CPR matters for fragrance
For the fragrance sector, the CPR is the regulation that most directly determines which ingredients can be used in a fragrance mixture supplied for cosmetic products, and under what conditions. Its Annexes list substances that are prohibited, restricted or subject to specifications for use in cosmetic products.
For certain fragrance ingredients classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR), Article 15 of the CPR provides a derogation pathway for continued use in cosmetics, where safe use can be demonstrated. The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) plays a central role throughout, providing the independent scientific opinions that these decisions rely on. Because a single fragrance can contain dozens, or even hundreds, of individual ingredients, how the CPR treats each ingredient has a direct impact on reformulation, innovation, and the sector’s ability to keep bringing safe, high-quality products to European consumers.
The Chemicals Omnibus (Omnibus VI), keeping safety at the core of the CPR
In 2026, EU co-legislators agreed the Chemicals Omnibus (Omnibus VI), which introduces targeted adjustments to the CPR. For fragrance, the most significant change concerns the Article 15 derogation procedure, which becomes a workable pathway for the continued use of CMR-classified ingredients that can be demonstrated as safe. Omnibus VI introduces clear deadlines and transition periods, clarifies the approach for constituents of natural complex substances, and the criteria for granting a derogation. These changes address a mechanism that, in more than a decade under the CPR, had not resulted in a single derogation being granted despite several dossier submissions. The SCCS retains its central role in assessing the safety of ingredients throughout this process.
Read more: EU Chemicals Omnibus (VI)
The evaluation of the CPR
The European Commission is currently carrying out an evaluation of the CPR, assessing its effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value since it started to apply in 2013. IFRA is contributing to this process.
IFRA considers the CPR one of the most comprehensive and rigorous cosmetics regulations in the world, a framework that other jurisdictions frequently look to as a reference point. With the adjustments introduced through Omnibus VI now agreed, IFRA believes the CPR, once those changes take effect, will remain well placed to meet its objectives. Whether any further changes prove necessary is, in IFRA’s view, a question that deserves careful and continued reflection rather than a swift new legislative revision.
IFRA also supports the implementation of the CPR as a member of the European Commission’s Working Group on Cosmetic Products.