The Safety Gate system (formerly ‘RAPEX’) The EU Cosmetic Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 states: “A cosmetic product made available on the market shall be safe for human health when used under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.” Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

In order to ensure that there are no dangerous products on the EU market and to keep consumers safe, the European commission has established a system called the Safety Gate. The Safety Gate is a rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products (previously known as RAPEX), which is a system for rapid exchange of information on dangerous products (including cosmetics) on the EU market between the national authorities of 31 European countries (EU Member States together with Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland) and the European Commission.

The system covers cosmetics, toys, clothing, childcare products, as well as professional products (e.g. machinery). In addition, the system also includes products, which present indirect hazards to consumers and the environment caused by the presence of organic pollutants and heavy metals that can cause contamination of water and soil. The system excludes pharmaceutical products, medical devices, food and feed, which have their own alert systems.

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