Personal Care Product Council Lifts Lobbying Efforts

The Personal Care Products Council spent $180,000 lobbying the federal government in the third quarter, an increase of 20% over last year and 13% more than it spent in Q2 of 2011.The increase was attributed to the Safe Cosmetics Act which, if passed, will have cosmetics companies register with the Food and Drug Administration and report on adverse health effects associated with their products. The agency would be able to recall cosmetics products, and the Department of Health and Human Services would randomly test cosmetics for harmful ingredients. Product labels also would be more strictly regulated.

Supporters say the bill would protect consumers by aligning safety regulations for cosmetics with those for food and medicine, while the industry group says such rules would overwhelm the FDA with “useless information” and destroy the industry’s “ability to create innovative products and employ thousands of Americans.”

The industry group said it also lobbied on free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama, which President Obama signed into law in October. The group’s third-quarter lobbying disclosure report was filed with the House clerk’s office Oct. 18.