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Built for the Cosmetics Compliance Community
Responsible Persons | Safety Assessors | Testing Laboratories | Regulators | National Authorities | Industry Experts | Scientific Advisors
Testing is no longer a back-office technical step. In today’s cosmetics compliance environment, microbiological and analytical testing can influence product substantiation, safety documentation, inspection readiness, market surveillance, and the confidence of Responsible Persons and Safety Assessors.
The 11th ERPA Annual Summit will focus on one central question:
What is the role of testing in cosmetics compliance and safety, and how do all actors work together in practice?
Across two days in Athens, the program will connect regulatory expectations with scientific realities. Sessions will explore how evidence is commissioned, generated, reviewed, interpreted, documented, and defended, especially when results are borderline, incomplete, unexpected, or decision-critical.
This is a summit for professionals who need more than theory. It is designed for those responsible for turning data into decisions and decisions into compliant, credible, and safe cosmetic products.
Why attend ERPA Summit 2027?
Clarify responsibilities across the compliance chainExplore the boundaries between the Responsible Person, test laboratory, Safety Assessor, manufacturer, supplier, and authority. Understand who owns the data, who interprets the findings, and who is accountable for the final decision. |
Strengthen the link between science and complianceExamine how microbiological and analytical results should be contextualized, documented, and integrated into the cosmetic safety assessment. |
Improve testing strategy and proportionalityDiscuss when testing is necessary, useful, excessive, or insufficient, and how risk-based thinking can support stronger compliance outcomes. |
Build cooperation across EuropeEngage in practical dialogue with regulators, inspectors, laboratories, RPs, assessors, and industry experts on how expectations can be better aligned across the cosmetics compliance ecosystem. |
Attend for ERPA, and Stay for Athens
From Leiden to Athens: The ERPA Community Continues
Following the successful 10th ERPA Annual Summit, the community now comes together in Athens for the 11th edition. ERPA Summit 2027 builds on the dialogue, insight, and connections created in 2026, with a new focus on how testing evidence supports compliance and safety decisions.
2027 Program Theme
From Test Result to Compliance Decision
A test result does not speak for itself. It must be understood in context, evaluated against regulatory expectations, interpreted scientifically, and documented in a way that supports a defensible compliance or safety conclusion.
Day 1 | Tuesday, 23 Feb 2027
Day 1 focuses on regulatory expectations, responsibilities, and enforcement practice. Sessions will examine how testing supports compliance, product substantiation, market surveillance, safety documentation, and inspection readiness within the evolving EU cosmetics framework.
The program will explore what authorities expect from compliance operators today, how Responsible Persons, laboratories, and safety assessors should work together, and where responsibility sits when test data must be interpreted and applied.
The afternoon will move deeper into practical enforcement questions, including how authorities review testing-related documentation, what inspectors look for in real cases, and how industry and authorities can strengthen cooperation around testing expectations across Europe.
The day will close with reflections on alignment, accountability, and the practical steps needed to make testing evidence more reliable, usable, and inspection-ready.
Day 2 | Wednesday, 24 Feb 2027
Day 2 turns to the scientific and practical use of testing evidence in cosmetics safety and compliance. Sessions will focus on microbiological and analytical testing, including how data is produced, interpreted, challenged, and integrated into safety assessment and compliance conclusions.
The program will examine microbiological quality, preservative efficacy, contamination control, product-specific risk, impurities, contaminants, restricted substances, specification control, and trace analysis.
Participants will explore when testing becomes decision-critical, how to determine whether a testing strategy is necessary, useful, or excessive, and what makes laboratory data truly usable for safety assessors and authorities.
The Summit will conclude with a forward-looking discussion on smarter testing strategies, integrated evidence approaches, method acceptance, and the cooperation model needed between authorities, Responsible Persons, laboratories, and safety assessors to support future-ready cosmetics compliance.
What is ERPA?
ERPA unites the people behind product safety — Responsible Persons, Safety Assessors, Testing Laboratories, regulators, and scientific experts to strengthen cosmetics compliance across Europe.
Founded to support those ensuring products are safe, compliant, and trusted, ERPA created the Annual Summit as a focused space for regulatory clarity, technical depth, and meaningful collaboration.
Now entering its 10th edition, the ERPA Summit continues to bring the compliance community together. In 2026, we gather at Leiden University to align on emerging methods, share real-world experience, and move the industry forward together.
What is a Responsible Person?
“Only cosmetic products for which a legal or natural person is designated within the Community as ‘responsible person’ shall be placed on the market.” (Art. 4.1., 1223/2009/EC, L 342/65, 22.12.2009)
“For each cosmetic product placed on the market, the responsible person shall ensure compliance with the relevant obligations set out in this Regulation.” (Art. 4.2., 1223/2009/EC, L 342/65, 22.12.2009)
Learn more at ERPA's Annual Summit.
What is a Cosmetic Product?
‘Cosmetic product’ means any substance or mixture intended to be placed in contact with the external parts of the human body (epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance, protecting them, keeping them in good condition or correcting body odours.”
(Art. 2., 1223/2009/EC, L 342/64, 22.12.2009)
Empowering Responsible Persons, Elevating Compliance Standards
ERPA Summit 2027: Advancing Compliance, Together
Secure your seat at the premier ERPA Summit 2027 — the only cosmetics compliance operators event of its kind.
Join us for two full days of intensive learning, regulator engagement, and peer-to-peer networking, all hosted in the heart of Athens, Greece.
Registration Includes
- Access to Keynotes, Featured Speakers, and Educational breakout sessions and roundtables
- Year-round access to all Sessions On-Demand
- Attendee lunches Tuesday/Wednesday, coffee breaks and networking opportunities
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Peer-to-peer Networking
Need Help?
For answers to summit questions, please e-mail at ERPA@SegmentAgency.com
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
ERPA is excited to welcome our Official Sponsors for the 11th ERPA Annual Summit.
Their support enables us to keep the Summit accessible, independent, and focused on high-quality regulatory science for the ERPA community.
Title Sponsor
QACS, The Challenge Test Lab
Production Partner
Your Partner in Strategic Event Experiences for Cosmetics and Personal Care Industry
Get Involved
Align your brand with regulatory excellence—sponsor the ERPA Summit and connect directly with Europe's top compliance leaders.
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