Halden How much does a UK Responsible Person cost?
If you are planning to sell cosmetics in Great Britain from outside the UK, the UK Responsible Person is one of the costs you cannot avoid. Prices vary a lot between providers, partly because they include different things. This post explains what the fee pays for, what pushes it up or down, and the other costs that sit around it.
What you are paying for
The Responsible Person carries the legal duties for your products in Great Britain under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 as it applies in GB. In practice that means:
- Notification of each product on the Submit Cosmetic Product Notifications service (SCPN) before sale, and updates when anything changes. See our SCPN guide.
- The product information file, kept in English at a UK address and available to the authorities for ten years after the last batch is placed on the market.
- Checking compliance: formulas against the GB lists of banned and restricted substances, and labels and claims against the GB rules.
- Dealing with the authorities, such as Trading Standards and the Office for Product Safety and Standards, and reporting serious undesirable effects.
- Their name and address on your pack.
You are also paying for the risk. The Responsible Person is the party the authorities deal with in Great Britain, which is why a careful provider reviews your products before accepting them.
What changes the price
- How many products you have. Most providers price per product or in bands. Check whether a "product" means a formula, a shade or a stock-keeping unit, because that can change the total a lot.
- Whether you already have a safety report valid for Great Britain. If not, one has to be commissioned from a qualified safety assessor, usually at extra cost.
- How ready your labels and formulas are. Products that need changes take more review rounds.
- What is included. Label review, notification updates, regulator contact and incident work are included by some providers and charged separately by others.
- Your product type. Some providers decline higher-risk categories or charge more for them. We do not take on sunscreens or SPF claims, skin lightening, hair dyes and relaxers, or products made for children under 3, among others.
Our prices
One fixed yearly fee based on how many products you sell in Great Britain, plus a one-off setup fee. A product is one formula. Fees are paid upfront and confirmed in a written quote after we have seen your range.
| Plan | Products | Per year | One-off setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 to 2 | £990 | £199 |
| Core | 3 to 8 | £1,690 | £249 |
| Growth | 9 to 20 | £2,890 | £399 |
| Scale | 21 to 40 | £4,490 | £599 |
Every plan includes formula review, a label and claims check, SCPN notification, holding the product information file, regulator contact and our UK name and address for your pack.
A worked example. A brand with five face and body products, each with an existing safety report, would be on the Core plan: £1,690 for the year plus the £249 setup fee, so £1,939 in the first year and £1,690 for the second year at today's prices. If two of those products had no safety report valid for Great Britain, add £150 each for coordination plus the assessor's own fee.
Extras, renewal terms and what we do not take on are all on our pricing page.
Other costs to budget for
- Safety assessment. Every product needs a cosmetic product safety report. If yours was written for another market, it may need reviewing or redoing for Great Britain.
- Label changes. New artwork or a reprint if your pack needs changes for Great Britain, or once the EU label concession ends on 31 December 2027. See our post on that deadline.
- Product liability insurance. We ask clients to hold at least £1 million per claim covering Great Britain before their products go live. Other providers set their own requirements.
- Bank and currency charges if you pay from outside the UK.
- Testing, such as stability or challenge tests, if your safety assessor needs data you do not have.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How do you count products? Per formula, per shade or per size?
- What is included? Label review, notification updates, regulator contact, incident handling?
- Do you review my products before you accept? If not, gaps may only show up later.
- How much can the price rise at renewal, and with how much notice?
- How do I leave? What is the notice period, and how quickly will you hand my product information file to a new Responsible Person?
- Do you cover Northern Ireland? A Responsible Person based in Great Britain cannot. Northern Ireland needs one in Northern Ireland or the EU.
Our answers are on our key terms page. For a written quote, tell us what you sell.
Common questions
How much does a UK Responsible Person cost?
It depends on the provider, how many products you have and what is included. Our own fees are published: from £990 a year plus a one-off £199 setup fee for 1 to 2 products, up to £4,490 a year plus £599 setup for 21 to 40 products.
Is the safety report included in the fee?
Usually not, because the safety assessment has to be done by a qualified safety assessor. With us, coordinating a safety report costs £150 per product plus the assessor's own fee at cost, and it is only needed where a product has no safety report that is valid for Great Britain.
Do shades and sizes count as separate products?
With us, a product is one formula. Shades and sizes of the same formula usually count once, as long as they can be notified together, and your quote confirms the count before you pay. Other providers count differently, so ask.
Is there a cheaper way to do it?
A UK importer that places your products on the market is the Responsible Person by default, so some brands rely on their importer or distributor. That only works if they accept the role and can actually carry it out.
Sources
- Our fees and terms: haldenrp.co.uk/pricing and haldenrp.co.uk/terms
- Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 as it applies in GB, Article 4: legislation.gov.uk/eur/2009/1223/article/4
- Article 11 (product information file): legislation.gov.uk/eur/2009/1223/article/11
- OPSS guidance for Great Britain: gov.uk, Regulation 1223/2009 and the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013 (Great Britain)
This post is general information, not legal advice. Prices are as published on 27 October 2026.