Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** SMG Europe’s participation at InterCHARM Korea highlights the growing demand for regulatory compliance services in the global cosmetics market, as domestic and international visitors showed strong interest in overseas market entry support.
InterCHARM Korea is a leading domestic cosmetics industry exhibition featuring Korean and international cosmetics brands, OEM/ODM manufacturers, raw material and packaging companies, distributors, and buyers. SMG Europe joined the exhibition to support companies preparing for overseas market entry in effectively responding to changing country-specific regulations, focusing on overseas certifications and the recently tightened EU environmental regulations.
During the exhibition, active consultations took place, primarily with cosmetics brands and OEM/ODM manufacturers, with inquiries covering country-specific certification procedures and the latest environmental regulations. Companies preparing for European exports showed particular interest in the need to prepare for both product certification and packaging regulations simultaneously.
It requires compliance not only with product quality but also with overall packaging requirements such as recyclability, mono-material design, use of recycled plastics (PCR), restrictions on overpackaging, labeling, and traceability. For cosmetics, all packaging components—containers, caps, labels, and boxes—are subject to regulation, making PPWR a critical regulation for future European market entry.
However, many cosmetics companies struggle to accurately understand PPWR’s scope and requirements, or face practical challenges in recyclable packaging design, eco-friendly material selection, PCR application, and technical documentation preparation. During the exhibition, consultations frequently included questions like “Is our product subject to PPWR?”, “Can we continue using our current packaging?”, and “What documents do we need to prepare?”, confirming high corporate interest.
In response, SMG Europe and SMG Korea provide practical services including packaging structure analysis, regulatory gap analysis, recyclability review, PCR application verification, technical documentation preparation, and EU Responsible Person (RP) registration support to help companies systematically address PPWR.
They also analyze company-specific products and packaging structures to propose regulatory compliance strategies, supporting the technical documentation and verification processes needed for export, enabling more stable entry into the European market.
They currently operate verification services and practical training for companies, with growing interest from both domestic and international markets, including China, reflecting increasing corporate attention to evolving global environmental regulations.