Former CTFA changes name, launches Web site
WASHINGTON The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association has changed its name to the Personal Care Products Council to reflect its increasingly diverse membership. The trade association also launched a new consumer information Web site that features information about cosmetic safety.
“We are a science-based, safety-first organization and industry with a long track record of safety initiatives that go beyond the requirements of the law,” stated Pamela Bailey, president and chief executive officer of the association that represents the $250 billion global cosmetic and personal care products industry. “Our new name, motto and consumer Web site are the latest expression of our shared core values of safety, quality and innovation.”
The new site, located at www.cosmeticsinfo.org, is an online resource for safety information about cosmetic ingredients and the science behind personal care products. The site currently contains information on 13 ingredients used in cosmetic and personal care products today. In addition, the site provides links to other authoritative bodies and to scientific research. The site will continue to be expanded and updated with new information.
This, however, is far from the group’s first safety initiative. Past steps include the establishment in 1976 of the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel, an independent, nonprofit body of scientific and medical experts that assess the safety of cosmetic ingredients used in the United States. With the participation of the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Federation of America, CIR reviews the safety of cosmetic and personal care product ingredients in an open forum and publishes the results in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
Earlier this year, the council also instituted a Consumer Commitment Code that formalizes and strengthens some practices already in place for most companies, such as the current reporting of manufacturing establishments to the FDA, and includes new practices such as a Safety Information Summary Program that makes cosmetic product and ingredient safety information immediately available to the FDA upon request.