Free Sales Certificates

The European Cosmetics Regulation is known as the strictest in the world. When your products comply with this Regulation, chances are that you already have sufficient material on your cosmetic product and that it meets the highest safety standards. While each market has its own regulatory process for cosmetics registration, several countries may rely on what has already been done and demand a legal proof that your product is freely sold on the EU market. This proof takes the form of a Free Sales Certificate.

A Free Sales Certificate is a document legalized by an authority (ie in Belgium, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) confirming that a product can be freely sold on a market after verification that it follows the local requirements.

This document can be drafted by a Chamber of Commerce, a trade association or, in Europe, by the Responsible Person. For markets where a pre-market product registration is required, a Certificate of Free Sales coming from the EU provides the assurance that the cosmetic product is manufactured according to the highest safety standards and per Good Manufacturing Practices.

For several third countries, the Convention of 5 October 1961 abolished the requirement of legalizing the Certificate of Free Sales. However, some countries still require an additional legalization from their Embassy. In such cases, an additional fee added to the initial legalization fee by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs applies.