Sell Cosmetics in Luxembourg: Regulatory Compliance Guide

• The Direction de la santé — Division de la Pharmacie et des Médicaments is the competent authority for cosmetics in Luxembourg under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009.
• French and German are the most commonly used administration languages for product labels; Luxembourgish is also officially accepted.
• Luxembourg has no national cosmetics law of its own: Regulation 1223/2009 applies directly.

1. The EU framework applies — notify once, sell everywhere

Luxembourg applies Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 directly — the harmonised rules that govern cosmetic products across the entire European Union. There is no parallel national regime: the safety, composition, and labelling rules are the same as in the rest of the EU.

In practice, selling in Luxembourg within the EU framework means meeting four common obligations that are not specific to this country:

• A single CPNP notification covers the entire EU market, including Luxembourg.
• A single EU-established Responsible Person is accountable for the product.
• A single product information file (PIF), which includes the cosmetic product safety report (CPSR).

This guide does not repeat that common framework — it focuses on what is specific to Luxembourg. For the cross-cutting concepts, see also what the CosIng database is and how to use it.

2. The national competent authority

The competent authority is the Direction de la santé — Division de la Pharmacie et des Médicaments (Directorate of Health — Division of Pharmacy and Medicines), part of the Ministry of Health and Social Security (Ministère de la Santé et de la Sécurité sociale). Its institutional portal is at sante.public.lu.

Its functions include market surveillance of cosmetic products and participation in European regulatory networks. For compliance queries, the contact address is luxdpm@ms.etat.lu (telephone: +352 247-85592; address: 2 rue Thomas Edison, L-1445 Strassen).

Luxembourg is a unitary state without regional divisions, so there is no fragmentation of the competent authority. Unlike several larger EU member states, Luxembourg does not have a parallel food safety or consumer protection authority with overlapping cosmetics oversight — the Division of Pharmacy and Medicines handles all cosmetics regulatory matters as a single, unified body.

The authority also participates in EU regulatory networks, meaning that enforcement signals originating from Luxembourg can feed into the broader EU market surveillance system and prompt coordinated action across member states.

3. Labelling language requirements

French and German are the languages of administration most commonly used for cosmetic product labels in Luxembourg; Luxembourgish is also officially accepted. There is no hard single-language obligation expressly established for cosmetics in a Luxembourg primary statute accessible from public official sources.

In practice, most operators opt for bilingual French/German labelling, which simultaneously covers the neighbouring markets of Belgium, France, and Germany with a single packaging format. This cross-border packaging efficiency is one of the practical advantages of Luxembourg's language flexibility: a product compliant with Belgian or French labelling requirements will typically also meet Luxembourg's expectations.

INCI ingredient names are exempt from any language requirement, as they are internationally standardised nomenclature.

4. National particularities

No national cosmetics law

The defining feature of Luxembourg is that it has no national cosmetics law of its own: Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 applies directly, without transposition through a Luxembourg-specific instrument. This simplifies regulatory analysis: the obligations are those of the European Regulation, with no additional layers of national legislation.

Small market with efficient cross-border packaging

The small size of the Luxembourg market — approximately $34 million in 2024 according to industry sources — means most operators design their products for a wider audience. Bilingual FR/DE packaging is the standard solution: it covers Luxembourg, Belgium (partially), France, and Germany with a single label format. For verifying ingredient compliance against the Regulation's annexes, the CosIng database is the standard reference.

Belgium, Germany, and France together supply approximately 93% of Luxembourg's cosmetics imports. This trade pattern means that products already packaged for the French or German market rarely need label changes to be placed on the Luxembourg market — making it one of the most accessible additional EU markets for brands already present in France, Germany, or Belgium.

No pre-market authorisation

There is no pre-market authorisation requirement. Luxembourg operates a post-market surveillance model, fully in line with the rest of the EU. CPNP notification is sufficient for market access.

Compliance queries and cosmetovigilance notifications for the Luxembourg market can be directed to the Division de la Pharmacie et des Médicaments at luxdpm@ms.etat.lu or by telephone at +352 247-85592 (address: 2 rue Thomas Edison, L-1445 Strassen). Because Luxembourg has a single unified authority for cosmetics with no parallel bodies, this contact point covers all regulatory enquiries — from labelling questions to serious undesirable effect reporting under Article 23 of Regulation 1223/2009.

For other markets in the region, see our guides to the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Portugal.

5. Frequently asked questions

Which authority regulates cosmetics in Luxembourg? The Direction de la santé — Division de la Pharmacie et des Médicaments (Ministry of Health and Social Security) is the competent authority for cosmetics market surveillance in Luxembourg. There is no separate body for this product category.

What language must cosmetic labels be in for Luxembourg? French and German are the languages of administration most commonly used for cosmetic product labels; Luxembourgish is also officially accepted. There is no hard single-language obligation expressly established for cosmetics.

Do I need a separate notification for Luxembourg? No. A single CPNP notification covers the entire EU market, including Luxembourg. There is no national cosmetics law of its own — Regulation 1223/2009 applies directly.

Are there national particularities beyond Regulation 1223/2009? The defining particularity of Luxembourg is precisely the absence of a national cosmetics law: Regulation 1223/2009 applies directly without transposition. Many operators use bilingual French/German packaging that simultaneously covers the neighbouring Belgian, French, and German markets. This makes Luxembourg one of the simplest EU markets to add to an existing distribution footprint, provided the brand already operates in France, Germany, or Belgium.