Labelling and Claims Compliance

What a label says and what a product claims are regulated as carefully as the formulation itself. Both are made under the authority of the Responsible Person, and both must be evidenced before publication and remain on file throughout the life of the product.

Labelling under Article 19

Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 sets out the mandatory particulars a cosmetic label must carry: the Responsible Person’s name and address, the nominal content, the date of minimum durability or the period-after-opening symbol, precautions for use, the batch number, the product function, and the list of ingredients in INCI nomenclature. In Great Britain the same requirements apply through the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013, and since 1 January 2026 the UK Responsible Person’s name and address must appear on the label of products placed on the GB market. To see these particulars laid out on an actual label, see our annotated cosmetic label; for the additional French sorting signage, see Triman labelling for France.

A label review at £195 checks primary and secondary packaging artwork against these requirements, including INCI verification, mandatory warnings, the durability or period-after-opening marking, and the relevant language obligations. It can be commissioned independently of any Responsible Person engagement.

Claims under Article 20 and the six Common Criteria

Article 20 governs claims, and Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 sets the six Common Criteria that every claim must satisfy: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness, and informed decision-making. The European Commission Technical Document on Cosmetic Claims sets out how each is applied. In the United Kingdom the same criteria operate through the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013, with the Advertising Standards Authority enforcing the CAP Code as a parallel consumer-facing channel; we work to both as a single compliance picture.

A Cosmetic Claims Review is £125 per claim, with a minimum engagement of five claims, and delivers a structured written verdict and recommended wording per claim. For claims that need to withstand scrutiny by a competent authority or the ASA, a Claims Substantiation Dossier from £1,495 provides the methodology, per-claim substantiation against the six Common Criteria, a consolidated compliance matrix, recommended strengthening actions, and a bibliography of primary regulatory and peer-reviewed sources. All fees are exclusive of VAT.

Where a claim is quantified or destined for advertising, desk review is not enough and the claim needs measured evidence. For that, see our claims testing and clinical efficacy studies.