Behind the Scents: what Omnibus VI means for the future of fragrance

Omnibus VI is a wide-ranging package designed to simplify the rules for chemical products, cosmetics, and more. In the episode, host Charles de Lusignan is joined by Aurélie Perrichet, Regional Director for Europe at the International Fragrance Association (IFRA), to explain what the changes mean for manufacturers, for regulators, and for the consumers who use fragranced products every day.

Omnibus VI touches several pieces of legislation, including how chemicals are classified and labeled and how those classifications feed into the Cosmetic Products Regulation. Its goal is to make the framework clearer and more workable while keeping Europe's high standard of consumer protection firmly in place.

That balance matters to the fragrance industry. Fragrance is present in most cosmetic products, and many of the ingredients that give them their character had been caught up in an accelerating cycle of classifications, raising the prospect of losing safe, well-established materials. MS Perrichet explains, Omnibus VI provides a more realistic route to keep using ingredients whose safety has been demonstrated, through a workable system of derogations with clearer criteria and adequate time to adapt.

Crucially, safety remains at the core. The automatic ban on ingredients classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction stays the default, and any exception requires a positive opinion from the European Commission's independent Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). Decisions continue to rest on robust scientific evidence.

The episode also addresses the practical questions members are asking: how classification and labeling work in practice, how the derogation process ought to operate, and the timelines companies need to plan around as the rules take effect.

The stakes are considerable. The fragrance, cosmetics, and personal care industry is valued at around €180 billion, generates some €30 billion in export revenue for Europe, and supports roughly 3.5 million jobs, many in small and medium-sized businesses.

The IFRA Podcast: Behind the Scents is a new series exploring the people and ideas shaping the future of fragrance. Listen to the full episode here: