PASS urging industry to support the Sunscreen Innovation Act
The Association is calling for brands and consumers to submit comments on HR-4250 and S-2141 to their US Representative and Senators.
According to the Coalition, the legislation, introduced earlier this year by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and Congressmen Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and John Dingell (D-MI) is a responsible way to alleviate the current 12 year backlog of sunscreen ingredients.
They believe it is also a way to streamline the review process so the public can gain access to the most effective and innovative sunscreen products.
What it will mean if the bill is passed
The bill would require the FDA to make a decision on new sunscreen applications within 11 months and existing applications within 8 months, but would not change other aspects of the approval process.
Either piece of legislation would improve the process, the coalition said.
“This would allow the American public to gain access to the latest safe, effective and innovative sunscreen products to protect against the sun’s most harmful rays,” the group said in a statement cheering passage of the spending bill.
The last Over-The-Counter (OTC) sunscreen ingredient to be approved was in the 1990s. Since that time, eight new sunscreen applications have been filed and are still awaiting review.
New sunscreen technologies currently awaiting approval in the US have been widely available in Europe, Asia, and Central and South America, in some cases for more than 15 years.
Legislation approved this week by a key House panel would direct the government to either approve or deny long-pending applications for sunscreen ingredients that are in wide use around the world but banned in the United States.
"The committee directs FDA to complete its review by December 2014 of the remaining safety and effectiveness submissions already submitted for sunscreen active ingredients,” it says.
