How can you reliably and automatically manage the regulatory compliance of cosmetic products under development ?
Ensuring regulatory compliance of products is one of the biggest challenges facing the cosmetics industry, especially in this age of globalization where brands are developing products with international commercial reach. In addition, the need for greater responsiveness in a fast-moving and highly competitive market adds a new level of complexity to the whole process. Regulatory affairs professionals are therefore confronted with complex tasks and have continually sought to optimize the management of regulatory compliance of products under development. In light of this reality, what are the challenges facing regulatory affairs and what approaches can be adopted to improve their effectiveness in this context ?
The challenges of cosmetic regulatory compliance
The complexity of regulatory compliance in the cosmetics industry
Globalization has led manufacturers to market their products internationally, resulting in the need to manage a variety of regulatory requirements and restrictions specific to each country of commercialisation (and even within each region).
Global brands often find themselves having to release a multitude of product variants, diverse packaging options, and various claims to adhere to specific regulatory requirements. The management and tracking of all this information can complicate a team's efforts to swiftly introduce a product across multiple markets. This intricate scenario presents a significant challenge to regulatory compliance, adding complexity to the handling of product registrations and registration dossiers.
Verification of regulatory compliance becomes an extremely arduous task, requiring in-depth expertise in interpreting complex directives, rulings and legislation. The sector also has challenges in the area of product claim substantiation. It is also important to note that regulatory teams often lack IT solutions that are tailored to meet specific needs. It is essential to help these teams meet deadlines, maintain compliance and adapt to regulatory changes and standards.
Importance of regulatory surveillance
New regulations and refinements to existing ones are constantly being introduced in countries around the world. Each new regulation has the potential to affect the formulation of a product, and any change, no matter how small, can quickly become time consuming and costly. Non-compliance with the regulations expose companies to financial penalties and even jeopardize their reputation in the eyes of the public.
On the other hand, regulatory affairs experts also have to manage information updates from raw materials and packaging suppliers, as well as from CROs, CMOs or third-party certification bodies. This information can also potentially influence product conformity.
An integrated information system combined with regulatory surveillance is therefore essential to enable companies to effectively navigate the complex landscape of global regulations and respond quickly to any changes in regulations (such as those on substance thresholds and allergens).
Strategies for increasing the efficiency of regulatory affairs in cosmetics industry
Implementation of data visibility and traceability throughout the product lifecycle
Regulatory affairs need accurate information across the long journey, from raw material suppliers through manufacturing to product compliance registration and post-consumer monitoring. Collecting the right information, at the right place and at the right time is usually a struggle for teams. This includes :
- Using standardized templates to efficiently collect data from suppliers and internal departments.
- Securing and verifying the information.
- Efficient data processing, which must be adapted to the specific characteristics of each country.
- Minimizing errors and optimizing the generation of regulatory documents by automating tasks using pre-defined templates and an organized system.
Email, shared drives and spreadsheets are still widely used to share sensitive regulatory data and documents. However, these practices lack transparency and expose potential risks of errors and information loss. Cosmetics companies should seriously consider centralized data management software to improve operational efficiency.
The use of a single platform where all information is up to date and accessible to relevant users at all times is essential. This will optimize product information management and give teams the visibility they need to collaborate flexibly and proactively throughout the product life cycle, especially in the context of regulatory affairs.
Strengthening network collaboration
Established global brands are hampered by long product development timescales, with launches taking anywhere from 12 months to three years. The product life cycle, from initial design through prototyping to packaging delivery, requires numerous collaborations across multiple departments and external partners (suppliers for raw materials, packaging, artworks, etc).
What's more, it's often necessary to involve experts from the earliest stages of the project in order to respond effectively to key regulatory concerns such as safety and sustainability. This complex stakeholder engagement involves hundreds of processes and interactions making it difficult to gather and share information.
That is why it is crucial to improve the network collaboration between all these players in order to facilitate the exchange, to make it more efficient and more secure, and to guarantee traceability. This will save time, money and energy.
Establishing transparency, reliability and data integration
Consumers today have confidence in the safety of cosmetic products. But building this trust is more than just a matter of regulatory approval. Both consumers and regulators are raising their expectations of transparency. With the multitude of substances being scrutinized by consumers and regulators, questions are arising about compliance with elements such as endocrine disruptors, nanomaterials, microplastics, environmental footprint and sustainable practices throughout the life cycle. This is forcing companies to rethink how they manage regulatory data and product information.
Benefits of regulatory compliance software
It is time for you to have a modern regulatory management solution in place of manual systems. Traditional tools such as spreadsheets, which have been used in regulatory affairs departments for decades, are no longer able to manage the regulatory compliance efficiently and accurately. By investing in regulatory compliance tools to manage your processes and data, you can :
- Streamline your operations
- Facilitate collaboration between internal departments and external partners to encourage the creation of relevant content through secure, auditable digital processes
- Track the content requirements of each region. Quickly identify the latest versions produced by each team.
- Access real-time project and product progress via a global dashboard.
With regulatory compliance software, bid farewell to the tedious hours spent sorting through email inboxes, Excel spreadsheets, and piles of paper files - all the while ensuring that you have the most recent version updated. Instead, you and your teams will have access to a shared platform for overseeing regulatory, claims, and quality processes and content. All the necessary information will be automatically monitored and readily available.You will speed up your time-to-market considerably, while ensuring optimum regulatory compliance.
