Pallone Requests Hearing on Cosmetic Safety

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) sent a letter to full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) today requesting a hearing examining the current regulatory framework for cosmetics. Under current law, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has very limited authority to regulate cosmetic products.

"The need to reform our country's cosmetics regulatory system is long overdue," Pallone wrote in the letter to Upton. "This Committee, as the Committee with jurisdiction over cosmetic regulation, should examine the existing framework and determine what improvements are necessary. We owe it to American consumers to do all we can to ensure we have a robust cosmetic regulatory system that ensures the safety of the cosmetic products that Americans purchase and use each day."

Pallone intends to introduce a proposal this fall that would provide FDA with additional authority and resources to regulate cosmetic products. This proposal will build off of legislation he authored in previous Congresses.

In March 2012, Pallone, then Ranking Member of the Health Subcommittee, introduced the Cosmetics Safety Enhancement Act (H.R. 4262), which would have required cosmetic manufacturers to register with FDA and disclose cosmetic product ingredients, report serious adverse events associated with use of the cosmetic, recall products FDA believes will cause serious health consequences or death, and pay an annual fee to fund cosmetic safety oversight. Later that month, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held the first legislative hearing focused solely on cosmetic safety.

The current regulatory system leaves the cosmetic industry virtually unregulated in a number of ways including:

• Cosmetic manufacturers are responsible for ensuring the safety of their products, but they are not required to share this information with FDA;
• Cosmetic manufacturers are not required to register with FDA, which means FDA does not have access to real-time information regarding what entities are manufacturing and marketing cosmetic products;
• Cosmetic manufacturers have no obligation to notify FDA if they receive adverse event reports from consumers; and,
• FDA does not have the authority to recall a cosmetic product, even if FDA finds it caused serious health consequences.

A copy of Pallone's letter requesting a hearing on cosmetics is available here.

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