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Oct 24, 2025 - Cosmetics
Safety Gate - Consumer protection at the European level
With the Safety Gate, formerly RAPEX (Rapid Exchange of Information), a tool has been created at the European level which can quickly warn of consumer products that pose health risks. Consumer products include all products that can come into contact with humans. Among other things, cosmetic products are also part of the product spectrum.
Originally, the exchange of information in real-time was designed only for authorities. In the meantime, the notifications can be viewed publicly on an Internet platform. All members of the European Economic Area are part of the network, namely all 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein.
Notifications about contested cosmetic products are, for example, transmitted by the responsible supervisory authority to the BVL (Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety). The BVL examines the notification draft, inputs the data into the Safety Gate system and first forwards the information to the national contact point at the BAuA (Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). The BAuA then forwards the notification to the European Commission, which, after validation, disseminates the notification to all network members.
If a network member has further relevant information on a product notification, this can be shared via so-called follow-up notifications through Safety Gate.
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