Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

CVS/pharmacy Cosmetic Safety Policy

CVS/pharmacy is dedicated to improving the lives of those we serve through innovative and high-quality health and pharmacy services. That is why we are dedicated to staying abreast of new conclusive research related to cosmetic safety, to assessing findings that demonstrate a linkage between certain health and environmental risks and specific chemical ingredients used in beauty and personal care products, and to evaluating how these findings impact the products we sell.

We are committed to:

• Providing our customers with innovative products from around the world that have been hand-selected and tested by CVS/pharmacy health experts and that meet or exceed regulatory standards.
• Building relationships with partners who can help educate us on scientific research and developments related to ingredients of concern in cosmetic products.
• Continuously evaluating our CVS/pharmacy Brand and private label products based on new research findings.
• Surveying the manufacturers of the cosmetic products we sell to understand their protocols for ensuring cosmetic safety.
• Developing action plans to replace ingredients of concern in our branded and private label products when safer alternatives are available and prompting similar action by our manufacturer partners.
• Educating consumers on our cosmetic safety standards and on product evaluation tools that will enable them to take an active role in maintaining good health.

Cosmetics Safety

We require our cosmetics vendors to supply CVS/pharmacy with products that comply with the following:

• Our Cosmetics Safety Policy
• List of banned substances including hexachorophene, mercury compounds, chloroflourocarbons, bithionol, chloroform, halogenated salicylates, vinyl chloride, zirconium and methylene chloride
• Applicable regulations, including those governing product composition and ingredient restrictions, such as volatile organic compound (VOC) content
• Certain packaging requirements, such as child-resistant packaging on specific products

We use the following processes to evaluate vendor compliance and ensure cosmetics safety:

• Products must be formulated to ensure they present no risk of contamination and each production batch must be tested to meet our product specifications.
• Product ingredients are identified and each ingredient is reviewed by CVS/pharmacy toxicologists based on available safety information before it is considered for sale. We maintain a comprehensive database of historical product and ingredient information to assist with this process.
• Colorants are confirmed to ensure they are acceptable for use by FDA requirements related to cosmetics use.
• Clinical testing is performed to assess and confirm skin compatibility, including determination that the final product formulation will not cause irritation, and substantiate product clinical claims.
• Documentation is reviewed to confirm products contain no Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) derived materials and no materials are from at-risk counties known for BSE.
• Tests for lead, bisphenol A, and phthalates are conducted to ensure they are below or absent as dictated by regulatory requirements.

To further ensure safety and promote education across the retail industry, our cosmetic scientists participate in industry-wide and professional organizations and consult with third–party experts on specific questions related to ingredient and product safety.

Natural Beauty Products

We strive to meet customer preferences and provide a wide range of product choices, including natural cosmetics. CVS/pharmacy promotes and carries natural beauty brands, some that meet European Union (EU) standards and some that have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics including: Avalon® Natural Products, Burt’s Bees®, Giovannni® Organic Cosmetics and Lavera.

Earth Essentials Products

In 2008, we built on our larger efforts to offer natural and environmentally-friendly products with the introduction of Earth Essentials, our new eco-friendly product line that is completely biodegradable and includes paper products made with 100 percent recycled fibers and plates and bowls made entirely from natural and renewable sugarcane. The products, which are designed to completely biodegrade, were endorsed by Greenpeace. The selection of paper products made with recycled fiber includes napkins, toilet tissue and paper towels.

All CVS/pharmacy Brand products and all beauty products are 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. If you are dissatisfied for any reason, you can return the CVS/pharmacy Brand or beauty product (opened or unopened) along with your receipt or invoice and we will refund the full purchase price–no questions asked.

Product Integrity

Managing Product Recalls and Returns

At CVS/pharmacy, we have an immediate response plan and process in place for effectively managing product integrity-related recalls, including:

• Notifying internal and external stakeholders
• Removing products from the shelves at all of our stores, distribution centers and our Web site
• Ensuring that technological solutions are activated to block accidental sales
• Educating colleagues on recalls
• Posting in-store recall posters, when appropriate
• Returning recalled items to the respective manufacturer for proper disposal

Across the enterprise, we have similar, comprehensive procedures in place for managing pharmaceutical recalls and market withdrawals.

Disposal of Expired Products

We take the issue of dated merchandise very seriously. We have a product removal policy and train our store employees to ensure we do not offer products for sale after their expiration date. Our stores carry as many as 30,000 different types of products, and often have more than 100,000 individual items on their shelves – each of which must be checked manually. While no labor intensive process of this kind is immune from error, we strive to achieve 100 percent compliance with our policies. In 2008, we instituted new policies to check for expired products in our distribution centers and made changes to better enable our field managers to monitor this issue in individual stores.