EU Commission Reviews Fragrance Allergens Program

BRUSSELS, December 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The first Annual Review of the IDEA Project (International Dialogue for the Evaluation of Allergens) was held in Luxembourg under the auspices of DG SANCO (EU Commission Directorate for Health & Consumer Safety).

The IDEA project, endorsed by the EU Commissioner for Health, Tonio Borg, is a multi-stakeholder process designed to provide a broadly agreed and transparent framework for assessing fragrance sensitizers globally.  It is an opportunity to build partnerships between the international fragrance industry and its stakeholders to improve the risk assessment of those fragrance ingredients identified as allergens, leading to better consumer protection.

IDEA consists of a series of workshops bringing leading international scientists together to reach consensus on improving existing methodologies. Recommendations made at the workshops are then followed up with industry or research projects. Every year, since this is a long-term project, an Annual Review will take place to monitor and validate progress and update the program and priorities.

"We are striving for mutual understanding by creating a transparent platform for communication and bringing together diverse views from all stakeholders to collectively define actions for the future," explained Pierre Sivac, IFRA President.

"This project requires a lot of hard work from everyone involved; the EU Commission, the wider scientific and medical communities who are participating, the experts from industry and the small, dedicated team at IFRA," said Sivac. "We believe in this dialogue and we believe that together we can develop globally acceptable risk assessment approaches for all substances suspected of being skin sensitizers, ultimately broadening the scope beyond fragrance allergens. This will enable regulators around the world to implement effective risk management measures ensuring the safe enjoyment of fragrances for consumers."

The EU Commission states that; "This event will be the appropriate platform to monitor the progress made, exchange views, update the program and priorities for future work to ensure consumer safety in the area of fragrance allergy whilst providing a framework for innovation and competiveness for the EU cosmetic industry."

For full details on the IDEA project and results of the first year's workshops go to the dedicated website at: http://www.ideaproject.info or the EU Commission's Scientific Committees' website at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/events/ev_20131213_en.htm

SOURCE IFRA