Does this apply to any of your products?  This new ruling comes into affect on the 18th November 2009 and all new products entering the market need to be compliant by November 2011. (Jane)

The European Commission has changed the labelling requirements for formulations that contain certain hair dye ingredients. Amendments to the Directive are in response to a conclusion from the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety SCCS previously known as the SCCP – Scientific Committee on Consumer Products that said contact allergies caused by hair dyes are an increasingly important health problem. These types of reactions can cause ‘acute and severe dermatitis’ in affected individuals, according to the SCCS. In an attempt to better inform the consumer of these dangers, the Commission has altered the warnings that must be included on the labels of oxidative hair dye products and some non-oxidative products that contain strong sensitising substances. 

via Cosmetics Directive amended to flag up hair dye allergy dangers.

www.cosmeticsdesign.com

Something else to consider when designing labels. 

The European Commission is mulling labelling to help consumers’ identify animal welfare-friendly products and incentivise producers to improve welfare. But campaigners say voluntary measures are not enough. Voluntary animal welfare schemes in the EU do exist, but there is no harmonised scheme and there is confusion amongst consumers about the standards they represent. Schemes in use include organic labelling, schemes run by various animal charities like the RSCA’s Freedom Food, retailer’s schemes, and other marks like the Red Tractor, which may only refer to minimum legal requirements.

via Animal welfare labelling schemes up for discussion in Europe.

www.foodnavigator.com

It has been mandatory to include Braille on all new EU Marketing Authorisations since 30th October 2005.

According to Article 56(a) of Council Directive 2001/83/EC it will be mandatory to include Braille on ALL EU pharmaceutical packaging by October 2010. This includes pharmaceutical products which were launched prior to October 2005.

Braille must show the name of the medicine and the appropriate strength, where more than one strength is available.

Braille alphabet

Support for Braille introduction
At Design Cognition we take the implementation of Braille very seriously. That is why our Chief Technical Officer Annie Dallison volunteered to be a member of The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) working group on Braille standards. Annie, as a leading industry expert, already had over 8 years of experience in the application of Braille on pharmaceutical packaging developing processes and establishing & setting standards for blue chip companies, making her an ideal member of the working group.

CEN working group
This CEN working group is made up of dedicated representatives from the packaging industry, trade associations, regulatory bodies and blind associations from across Europe.

This group has been working for over 3 years to determine and agree standards, including the Braille font style (Marburg medium) and measurement of Braille cell dot height that can be applied across the whole of the EU. One of the main issues for the team has been reaching agreement on the cell dot height that the blind associations feel will be sufficient to meet the needs of the blind users and also industry believe is commercially achievable. The final standard will hopefully be available before October 2010.

If you’d like find out more and how to avoid breaking the law, get your FREE ‘Introduction to Braille’ follow this link:

http://www.thepharmagateway.com/

If you are going to AAPS in Los Angeles, November 9th-12th, why not come & visit us at ‘Booth 1962′ to discuss this in more detail? See you there!

Chris Penfold

Will be interesting to see what the result of this is -

Australia and New Zealand are to undertake a review of food labelling laws and policy to reduce the regulatory burden on food companies without compromising health and safety.

Requirements for information to appear on food labels in Australia and New Zealand are governed by the Food Standards Code. While there are certain elements that are required on all labels, such as product name, supplier details, use by dates and the presence of allergens, there are frequent demands for more elements to be included.

For more information just follow the link http://bit.ly/1CPikX

www.foodproductiondaily.com

Edible codes for cheese – not another cheesey story…

Het Kaasmerk BV in, Leiden, the Netherlands, is a manufacturer of assorted blocks of cheese. Kassmerk has been collaborating with Isotron Systems on the traceability and quality control of its cheese for some time.Isotron Systems is the distributor of Cognex vision and identification equipment in the Netherlands. Kassmerk adopted a Cognex DataMan 7500 system to read the codes marked on its individual blocks of cheese.The two-dimensional codes are applied early in the production process and need to be read at the end of production.The only bar-code identification equipment Kaasmerk could find that was capable of working with the blocks of cheese, despite Kaasmerk’s rigorous industrial environment, was the In-Sight Vision System and the DataMan 7500 reader, which are both from Cognex.Identification codes, such as a 2D code or data matrix, are not only applied to state-of-the-art technology products, they are also applied to food products.These codes are mandatory in Europe, and are also necessary for safeguarding of food quality during production. They help minimise food-safety risks after the production phase, because each end product can be individually traced back to the production lot.Passport to traceabilityThe ability to identify each individual cheese as a unique item in the production chain is an essential component. Actually applied to the cheese block itself, the code functions as a veritable passport.

via Edible codes for cheese.

This is a really interesting insight into the diverse nature of retail outlets across the globe and it’s good to think for a  minute (or three) about the affect that has, not only on the shopping habits of consumers, but also on pack design. All four of the markets mentioned (Brazil, Russia, India & China) work to a totally different supply-model and designers should be aware of this when developing market-specific packs for each of those regions. Even in the same market (e.g. India) there is a huge difference between the requirements for packaging in the huge new department stores sprouting up and the small ‘mom & pop’ stores that exist out in more rural areas. Just think for a moment about the different requirements for each ‘outlet’ in terms of information:

1. The need to read bar codes in some areas and not in others

2. The requirements of self-selection in a department store versus an ‘endorsement’ by ‘mom & pop’ in the smaller stores

3. The greater degree for branding & shelf stand-out required in the bigger stores, where products are ‘fighting’ against  a far bigger range of competing products

4. The more stringent shelving requirements in department stores in terms of  shelf height, ‘facings’ and fit on gondola ends.

To name but a few…. and then there are the different transit & product-protection requirements to get to the store and to be ‘managed’ therin. I.e. The use of an automated (potentially) delivery & stock-handing system in a modern department store to that of  ‘horse & cart’ delivery & manual booking in system to a store in the outer reaches of Goa.

Food for thought – Chris Penfold

Changing retail landscape helps define cosmetics in BRIC markets

The fast-changing retail landscapes in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC markets) are creating new opportunities for cosmetics and personal care players to market products.

Although the retail landscapes are developing in quite different ways in each market, the key to successfully marketing personal care and cosmetics products will be determined by how effective companies are at tapping into these channels.

Speaking at the recent HBA conference program, held in New York City last month, Kline Group’s Carrie Mellage lifted the lid on each of these markets to show how the retail channels are evolving and to describe how companies are taking advantage of this.

By By Simon Pitman, 05-Oct-2009 www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com

You can read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/ydyggt4

Design Cognition have teamed-up with Top10Tips.co.uk to provide support to small businesses. The Top10Tips website provides a range of resources for Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) covering all sorts of areas pertinent to a business start-up, including the following:

Top 10 Tips Logo

* Packaging Design
* Search Engine Optimisation
* How to Choose a Marketing Mentor
* Strategic Marketing for Start-Ups
* Brochure Writing
* Social Responsibility for Small Business
* Brochure Design
* Email Stationery Design
* Marketing your Small Business

In terms of packaging design, I’ve provided my Top Ten Tips to help get you started. As I state there, “Packaging is often the last thing to be thought about in a long chain of events during the development of a product; often an after-thought. However, packaging is the main component to deliver consumer convenience and something that can vastly affect the satisfaction or otherwise of a products performance.”

So if you’d like to ‘get it right first time’, you can read the full article (all 1 -10 Packaging Design tips) by clicking the following link. Have read and let me know what you think. Cheers Chris Penfold

http://tinyurl.com/ycffqp2

Interesting piece of work – watch this space (Annie)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Going live – EFPIA pilot project makes debutIt was a rather soft launch in Sweden today, but an important moment for industry and patients.The EFPIA pilot project, testing a product verification system in pharmacy based on the use of a two-dimensional data-matrix went live today in Sweden. There was not an official ‘hard launch’ that will come, but earlier this morning three pharmacies began to use the system. Another 20+ will go live next week.

via EFPIA.

Just seen this article on the BNO twitter site -

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to pay $2.3 billion for illegal promotion of products, the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history.

That’s a lot of money!

By Katie Bird , 21-Aug-2009  www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com

A French law, which could make luxurious packaging of high end fragrances and cosmetics illegal, has come under fire from a European packaging trade association.

The European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment EUROPEN has attacked recent changes to French law that could affect the packaging of luxury goods.

via New French law could make luxury packaging illegal.