What Is a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR)?
If you intend to sell cosmetics in the European Union, the UK or several other markets, a Cosmetic Product Safety Report is not optional. It must exist before the product is placed on the market, and it must be kept available for authorities for ten years after the last batch is sold.
It is also one of the most commonly misunderstood documents in the supply chain, largely because it is frequently confused with a certificate of analysis or a stability report.
What the CPSR Is
A CPSR is a document produced by a qualified safety assessor that concludes whether a specific cosmetic product is safe for its intended use. It has two parts:
- Part A — Safety information. Quantitative formula, toxicological profiles of each ingredient, microbiological quality, impurities, packaging material assessment, normal and reasonably foreseeable use, exposure assessment, and data on the product as tested.
- Part B — Safety assessment. The assessor's reasoning and conclusion, including warnings and instructions that must appear on the label.
The assessor must be qualified by a recognised diploma in pharmacy, toxicology, medicine or a related discipline, and this is not a document a marketing team can assemble.
What It Is Not
A CPSR is not a certificate of analysis. A COA reports the test results for a specific batch — microbiological counts, pH, appearance. A CPSR is a safety conclusion about the product as a whole and its intended use. You need both, and they serve different purposes.
It is also not the same as a stability report, although stability data feeds into it, and not the same as a CPNP notification, although you need the CPSR before you can notify.
Who Writes It
Either the brand, if it has in-house qualified staff, or an external safety assessor. Most private label brands use a third-party assessor, and most manufacturers maintain a relationship with one so that the process is straightforward.
Ask your manufacturer whether they coordinate the CPSR or whether you need to commission it yourself. Both arrangements are common, but the timeline and cost differ substantially, and it is much easier to sort out before the labels are printed rather than after.
What the Assessor Needs From You
- The full quantitative formula, not ranges. Ingredient confidentiality is handled through the assessor's professional obligations, but the assessor must see the numbers.
- Specifications for raw materials, including purity and impurity limits.
- Microbiological quality data for the finished product.
- Stability data, including preservative efficacy results.
- Packaging material composition, particularly for anything with direct contact.
- The intended use — face, body, hair, rinse-off or leave-on — because exposure assessment depends entirely on this.
- Any claims you intend to make, since the assessor needs to confirm they are supportable.
How Long It Takes and What It Costs
For a straightforward formula using familiar ingredients, a CPSR typically takes five to ten working days once the full data package is in the assessor's hands. Novel actives, nanomaterials or unusual exposure scenarios extend that significantly.
Cost varies by market and complexity but generally falls in a low-to-mid three-figure euro range per product for a standard formulation. Where brands lose money is not on the assessor's fee — it is on reprinting labels because the warnings section changed after the print run.
The Sequencing Most Brands Get Wrong
The correct order is: finalise the formula, complete stability and preservative efficacy testing, commission the CPSR, incorporate any required label warnings, then print the labels and notify CPNP. Then produce bulk and release for sale.
The order many brands actually use is: design labels, print them, then discover the CPSR requires a specific warning or a different ingredient listing. Labels get reprinted, launch slips, and the money spent is entirely avoidable.
Other Markets
The EU framework under Regulation 1223/2009 is the most prescriptive, but the same logic applies elsewhere. The UK has its own safety report requirement post-Brexit. The US has moved toward stricter requirements under MoCRA. ASEAN countries each have their own notification systems. If you are selling into multiple markets, raise it with your manufacturer early, because the documentation requirements stack.
Regulatory Support as Part of the Order
OEM COSMETICS ODM produces cosmetics for brands in more than 50 markets on ISO 22716 and GMP certified lines, and coordinates CPNP notification and safety assessment as part of a standard order. We would rather raise a labelling issue before printing than after.
Talk to our team: WhatsApp +86 18709713948 · Email adon@oemcosmeticsodm.com · Website www.oemcosmeticsodm.com