Share recipes of tattooing products

As a manufacturer or importer of tattooing products, you must notify the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) of the formulations. This also applies to certain comparable substances and preparations.

Tattooing products are not cosmetic products, but substances or mixtures that are applied into or under the human skin. They remain there and influence the appearance. These are for example

• Tattoo colors
• Permanent make-up
• Agents with which tattoo inks are mixed before use, such as thinners
• Agents for removing tattooing products

Do you want to market such products in Germany? Then you must submit the formulation to the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) before placing these products on the market. The notification obligation does not apply to devices such as needles or lasers.

The BVL forwards the formulation and your data to the poison information centers. Your data and formulations will be treated confidentially and transmitted in encrypted form. The poison information centers will use your information to advise tattooed persons or the medical staff treating them or other specialists in the event of health problems.

Notifying the BVL is no substitute for checking whether your tattoo product is legally compliant and safe. This is the responsibility of manufacturers or importers.

The monitoring authorities of the federal states randomly check tattoo products that are on the market.

• completed table document with data on tattooing products or comparable preparations

They manufacture tattooing products including comparable substances and preparations, import them into Germany or place them on the market in Germany.

No legal remedies are provided for.

Notification of the formulation of tattooing products or comparable preparations is done electronically. You can also transmit data for several formulations from one company at the same time:

• For data storage and correspondence, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) assigns a BVL company code to each notifying company.
  • If you do not yet have a company code, you can apply for one before submitting your formulation.
  • You can apply for the company code using the online procedure or informally by e-mail, stating your contact details such as company name, address and telephone number.
• Download the table document from the BVL website, open it in a spreadsheet or word processing program and fill it out.
• If available, use the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) for your notification.
• If no INCI name is available for an ingredient, use the usual chemical name or, in the case of colorants, the CI number (Colour Index)
• You can submit your information to the BVL electronically in various ways.
  • Online procedure:
    • Call up the online form, enter your company code and all other required information and upload the table document with the data of your tattoo product.
    • After logging in to your organization account, you can send the notification of tattooing products.
  • E-mail:
    • Send the table document as an e-mail attachment.
    • You can encrypt emails if required.
  • Post:
    • If you want to send the table document by post, save it on an electronic data carrier such as a CD-ROM or DVD and then send it.
• The BVL will formally check whether the information is complete. If necessary, the BVL will contact you with a correction request.
• Check the correction request and inform the BVL of any changes required. If you do not have any corrections, you do not need to do anything else.
• You will automatically receive confirmation that your data has been transferred after about 4 weeks.
• If all the information is correct, the BVL will transfer your data to the poison information centers.
• You will receive a confirmation of the notification for your records.

• You must notify the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) of formulations of tattooing products and comparable preparations/substances before placing them on the market for the first time in Germany.
• You must check the request to correct your data within 4 weeks.

There are no costs for you.