The Standards Alliance works with regional standards bodies and national governments to support standard harmonization and global expert information sharing to support good regulatory practices and safer products for citizens.
Project: Support for African Organization for Standardisation
Implementer: Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) and African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO)
The Challenge:
In Africa, the regulatory frameworks for cosmetics and personal care products are not harmonized. Most countries that regulate these products in West, North, and South Africa do so based on a regulation that is horizontal. In East Africa, standards are prescriptive and specific to product types. These standards must be constantly updated and, as a result, are consistently behind technological innovation. Accordingly, many innovative products cannot be marketed in East Africa while local industry cannot innovate outside the limits of the standard. The incompatibility of the different frameworks creates significant issues in intra-African trade of cosmetics and personal care products. As such, a new standard for cosmetics that is aligned with global best regulatory practices should be developed and international expert opinion provided to help Africa develop the standard.
Our Work:
In this project, a webinar series will be conducted to support ARSO's efforts to establish a harmonized African standard for cosmetics and the personal care sectors. Webinars will cover a specific component of existing international standards and regulations, as well as the principles underpinning them, and hone in on a case study of a best practice standard for cosmetics and personal care products. Webinars for interested ARSO member stakeholders will feature presentations by industry and government experts from the U.S., EU, GCC, and Africa.
Where we work:
ARSO Member Countries:
Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Additional Resources:
