{"id":36751,"date":"2026-01-26T15:10:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lexcase.com\/?p=36751"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:11:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:11:29","slug":"cosmetic-products-current-status-of-free-from-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lexcase.com\/en\/cosmetic-products-current-status-of-free-from-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Cosmetic Products \u2013 Current Status of \u201cFree From\u2026\u201d Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<section>\n<h2>Reminder of the applicable framework<\/h2>\n<p><strong>10\/07\/2013<\/strong> \u2013 Any claim associated with a cosmetic product, including claims stating that a product does not contain a given substance (\u201cfree from \u2026\u201d), must comply with the six common criteria set out in Regulation (EU) No 655\/2013 of 10 July 2013:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Compliance with the law<\/li>\n<li>Truthfulness<\/li>\n<li>Evidential support<\/li>\n<li>Honesty<\/li>\n<li>Fairness<\/li>\n<li>Informed decision-making<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>19\/09\/2016<\/strong> \u2013 The Commission Report COM (2016) 580 highlighted the need to clarify how to assess claims such as \u201cfree from [authorised ingredient]\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>03\/07\/2017<\/strong> \u2013 A new version of the Technical Document on cosmetic claims was issued, including Annex III dedicated to \u201cFree from\u2026\u201d claims.<\/p>\n<p><strong>01\/07\/2019<\/strong> \u2013 These provisions were incorporated into the ARPP Cosmetic Products Recommendation (version 8).<\/p>\n<p><strong>16\/04\/2020<\/strong> \u2013 ANSM and DGCCRF published joint guidance: <em>\u201c\u2018Free from\u2019 claims in cosmetic products: clarification from the supervisory authorities\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>03\/07\/2023<\/strong> and <strong>01\/10\/2025<\/strong> \u2013 Updates to this guidance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>17\/11\/2023<\/strong> \u2013 DGCCRF indicated that, during its inspections, it prioritised claims relating to composition, particularly \u201cfree from \u2026\u201d claims.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>\u201cFree from \u2026\u201d claims: what is permitted?<\/h2>\n<h3>Prohibited claims<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Claims referring to substances that are already prohibited \u2013 <em>e.g. \u201cfree from corticosteroids\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Claims referring to characteristics already required by regulation \u2013 <em>e.g. \u201cnot tested on animals\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Claims based on unverifiable information \u2013 <em>e.g. \u201cfree from endocrine disruptors\u201d, \u201cfree from allergens\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Claims denigrating authorised substances whose absence can be verified through the INCI list \u2013 <em>e.g. \u201cfree from triclosan\u201d, \u201cfree from paraffin\u201d, \u201cfree from sodium laureth sulfate\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Claims referring to a group of substances where some are prohibited and others authorised \u2013 <em>e.g. \u201cfree from parabens\u201d, \u201cfree from phthalates\u201d, \u201cfree from nanomaterials\u201d, \u201cfree from titanium dioxide\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Tolerated claims<\/h3>\n<p>Claims may be acceptable where they:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Comply with the six criteria set out in Regulation (EU) No 655\/2013<\/li>\n<li>Are not the primary marketing argument but provide useful information to consumers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Examples (assessed on a case-by-case basis): \u201cfree from alcohol\u201d, \u201cfree from soap\u201d, \u201cfree from perfume\u201d, \u201cfree from GMOs\u201d, \u201cfree from silicones\u201d, \u201cfree from animal-derived ingredients\/substances\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Monitoring of \u201cfree from\u201d claims<\/h2>\n<p>During its inspections, DGCCRF identified numerous false, misleading or denigrating claims such as: \u201czero controversial substances\u201d, \u201cclean formulation\u201d.<\/p>\n<h3>Consequences of non-compliance<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Warning<\/strong>: where there is no clear intent to mislead<\/li>\n<li><strong>Injunction to comply<\/strong> for more serious breaches, for example:\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cfree from ethanol\u201d or \u201cfree from perfume\u201d not consistent with the actual composition<\/li>\n<li>\u201cfree from major allergens\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Asterisks qualifying or weakening the claim<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Official reports and fines<\/strong> in case of continued non-compliance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 2025, DGCCRF continues to identify breaches. Operators must be able to provide evidential support for any claim.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Enforceability of ANSM \/ DGCCRF guidance<\/h2>\n<p>By an interim order dated 4 June 2025, the President of the Nanterre Administrative and Economic Court considered that \u201cfree from\u201d or \u201c0%\u201d claims relating to allergens, endocrine disruptors and parabens do not comply with the professional diligence requirements set out in Article L.121-1 of the Consumer Code.<\/p>\n<p>The ANSM \/ DGCCRF guidance, updated on 1 October 2025, is now an enforceable and effective reference before the courts.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reminder of the applicable framework 10\/07\/2013 \u2013 Any claim associated with a cosmetic product, including claims stating that a product does not contain a given substance (\u201cfree from \u2026\u201d), must comply with the six common criteria set out in Regulation (EU) No 655\/2013 of 10 July 2013: Compliance with the law Truthfulness Evidential support Honesty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":16811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-science-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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