Statement by Lezlee Westine, President and CEO The Personal Care Products Council on the Introduction of the Personal Care Products Safety Act by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)

“For more than five years, the Personal Care Products Council and its member companies have worked collaboratively with Members of Congress seeking  to reform federal regulatory oversight for cosmetics and personal care products. We support the creation of a national standard that maintains the continued safety of our products while providing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with additional regulatory authority over our industry. While we believe our products are the safest category that FDA regulates, we also believe well-crafted, science-based reforms will enhance industry’s ability to innovate and further strengthen consumer confidence in the products they trust and use every day.  The current patchwork regulatory approach with varying state bills does not achieve this goal.

“Given this history and the complexities of both the legislative and regulatory process, we greatly appreciate Senator Feinstein’s leadership in introducing legislation to create a more contemporary regulatory system for the cosmetics and personal care sector.  The introduction of the Personal Care Products Safety Act is an important and positive step forward. Furthermore, we applaud the Senator’s efforts in bringing multiple stakeholders together to address reform.

“We look forward to continuing our work with Senator Feinstein, Senator Collins, members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and other relevant stakeholders to further strengthen the bill and move it forward in Congress.  And, we remain firmly committed to ensuring FDA has the appropriate funding, resources and administrative authority over our products for the 21st Century.”

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Statement by Francine Lamoriello, Executive Vice President, Global Affairs The Personal Care Products Council On the Introduction of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Legislation

“The cosmetics and personal care products industry applauds the introduction of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill.  We thank Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) for introducing a bipartisan bill that provides the U.S. the opportunity to negotiate global trade agreements that will foster job creation, provide new opportunities for American businesses and benefit economies around the world.

“American cosmetics and personal care products companies represent a dynamic sector of the U.S. economy.  Our member companies are poised to expand their global reach to meet the increasing demand for our products worldwide. TPA and free trade agreements such as the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) and the TransAtlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) will increase export opportunities for our industry by lowering trade and regulatory barriers, and providing more global consistency in standards, testing and labeling requirements.  The cosmetics and personal care products industry is a leading sector in exports and heavily depends on trade – in 2013, exports exceeded $11 billion. Our industry is comprised of small and medium-sized companies, and free trade agreements like TPP and TTIP will offer new opportunities for these companies to expand their global reach.

“In addition to supporting the passage of TPA, the cosmetics and personal care products industry supports passage of the TPP and TTIP agreements. The nation’s beauty industry and consumers worldwide will greatly benefit from international trade provisions that are being negotiated in TPP and TTIP.  Consistency in standards, testing and labeling requirements is essential to the growth of small and medium-sized companies as well as the entire beauty industry. We look forward to working with Congress on passage of TPA and urge them to act now.”

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