general thoughtswhat's up?

delicate matters

This post is a bit delicate, as it is a bit critical and as Switzerland is not part of the EU (European Union) and hence I am describing a view of a part of the world from the outside. Some of you might not like this post, some of you prefer to read about roses, but to get to the rose paradise you have to pass through European Union desert land. And I figured – as this blog is about making perfumes and how it feels to bring perfumes to the world- it is such an important aspect these days that I need to share.

There we go. Yesterday, I spent all day creating certificates for the registration of Loretta from Tableau de Parfums(R) for the EU market. The picture of today shows you the headline of the “Fabrication Method Statement”, wherein we have to describe how the fragrance is produced. Yes. It IS ridiculous. Other statements that need to be provided to the EU: Quantitative INCI formulations, product stability assessments, IFRA compliance statements, product specification files, certificates of analysis for all ingredients, material safety data sheets for ingredients, and many more, some of which are provided by my EU partner.

By 2013 the EU regulation for cosmetic products changes definitely and all cosmetic products from non EU countries need to be registered in a central database and a “RESPONSIBLE PERSON” must be allocated in one of the EU countries. Thus, I start preparing beforehand, and did all the paper work for Loretta, the upcoming fragrance, according to the new law.

The EU is becoming the most regulated cosmetic market in the whole world by 2013. To fulfill these regulations comes with a cost. A manpower, organization overhead, paperwork cost. The EU provides a central database, and I do not want to know how many people work nationally and on EU level just to make sure that the EU regulations for cosmetics products are fulfilled. Ever wondered why Europe is becoming less and less competitive? I stopped wondering.  I wish there would be more thinking about innovation instead of regulation in Europe.

Signs for hope? No, in the contrary. It is not so important for me, as Switzerland is a bit different, but I worry about Europe. Thus, actually, this is a sad post.

To finish it with a smile: As you can also see in today’s picture I am working on getting an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate for my tauerperfumes.com site. I learned that many of my clients wish to enter their private information such as address or telephone number on a secured site, which makes totally sense. Thus,  https…. there we go!