What to send your cosmetic safety assessor

Ask the assessor what the actual case needs

An assessor handover is most useful when it identifies the product clearly and makes uncertainty visible. It is not a universal list of tests or a substitute for the assessor's instructions.

The HPRA CPSR guidance places responsibility on the Responsible Person to provide complete and correct information and keep the report current. Use that distinction to organise the handover before a specialist decides whether the evidence is sufficient.

Begin with a cover sheet

Record the product reference, name, revision, intended market and the precise question for the assessor. Identify the contact who will resolve missing information. Explain whether the pack concerns a first assessment, a changed product or a specific question about an existing report.

Separate confirmed product facts from proposals. If a packaging reference, intended use or specification is still changing, say so and ask how the assessor wants the review to proceed. A misleadingly tidy pack can be less useful than a clear list of open questions.

Build an attachment index

For each attachment, record its reference, title, version, supplier or author, product/material relationship and the question it supports. Use independent columns for file presence, completeness check and specialist review. Add an owner for any missing or conflicting information.

Ask the assessor which composition, supplier, product-use, packaging and supporting study information they require. This article does not prescribe all technical inputs or determine testing. The GB safety-report guidance describes a separate GB context that needs its own scope check if that is a destination market.

Work through a synthetic pack

Sample Product A is version 2. Its cover sheet records Ireland/EU as the proposed market. The attachment index contains a product description and a supplier bundle, both labelled for clarification. Packaging information is not yet confirmed. No safety conclusion or assessor signature is included.

The open-question log asks the owner to confirm the current specification and the assessor to identify any additional information needed. The example remains incomplete by design. It demonstrates how to communicate the gap rather than how to approve the product.

Keep the answer with the question

When the assessor requests information, record the request, owner and response. Identify exactly which revised attachment answers it. Do not treat a reply such as sent documents as sufficient if the original question remains unresolved.

The review packet includes a blank organiser and a synthetic completed example for this workflow. Neither is an official CPSR form or an assessment. Use the pack with its source mapping, page review details and the assessor's instructions for the real case.

Sources and legal dates