Assortment policy

Animal materials

As animal welfare is important to us, it is not allowed to sell articles containing real fur, angora, mohair or kangaroo via bol. Real fur means animal skin, or parts thereof, with hair or fur in processed or unprocessed form, or fur of an animal. It is also not allowed to sell real animals, such as frozen chicks, via bol.

However, the following materials are allowed:

• Synthetic materials resembling fur
• Animal skins (or parts thereof) of sheep, cows, goats and reindeer (except the angora goat)
• Wool (excluding angora and mohair wool)

Protected species

Via our platform, we do not allow items or materials made of species that are threatened with extinction. These species are on the lists of CITES. Items containing (materials of) protected animals, are also not allowed to offer via bol.com. Not even if you have a valid permit, declaration or license to do so.

For example, the following materials are not allowed:

• Ivory
• Exotic leather (e.g. snakeskin and crocodile leather)

> Discover protected species with the CITES checklist (English & French)

Adhesive strips and glue boards

The use of adhesive strips or glue boards for catching rats and mice is prohibited in the Netherlands unless an exemption has been granted by the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO). Moreover, the use of glue boards is animal unfriendly. Therefore, these items are not wanted on both the Dutch and Belgian platforms. 

Veterinary Medicines

The sale of certain veterinary medicine items is regulated due to legal requirements and regulations. The Veterinary Medicines Regulation describes all criteria that a veterinary medicine must meet. The Animals Act, the Veterinary Medicines Decree 2022 and the Veterinary Medicines Regulation 2022 describe all (Dutch) national criteria that veterinary medicines must meet.
As a provider you are always responsible to make sure your supply meets these criteria. Pay extra attention when you want to offer veterinary medicines. Different rules apply to the Dutch market than to the Belgian market.

Sales in Belgium

It is currently not permitted to offer veterinary medicines in Belgium. In addition to the above, sales in Belgium are also subject to the requirements of the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAGG). You may not sell veterinary medicines online in Belgium, including export from the Netherlands.

As a supplier, you must be registered in the country where you are located and where you have a Chamber of Commerce number.

Sales in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the category “FREE” veterinary medicine (veterinary medicines freely available without prescription) may be traded. This concerns veterinary medicines intended for both food-producing and non-food-producing animals. This type of veterinary medicine (“VRIJ”) is included in the CBG database for veterinary medicines.

It is therefore mandatory to always fill in the product attribute “type diergeneesmiddel”. If in doubt, you can look up your articles in the database for veterinary medicines.

A product may also be considered a veterinary medicine because of a veterinary medicine claim or because of its nature.

Veterinary drugs included in the summary list of veterinary drugs expiring on January 28, 2022 are still subject to a sell-out period. It is not allowed to offer veterinary medicines in the category “UDA,” “UDD” and “URA.”
Providers with a BE account who only have a Belgian office (and therefore do not have a Dutch CoC number) and want to offer free veterinary medicines online for the Dutch market must be registered in the FAGG register.

Registration Register of Internal Trade in Veterinary Medicines required

The rules for dealers in veterinary medicines have recently changed (28-01-22). Registration in the Register for Internet Trade in Veterinary Medicines is mandatory for traders offering veterinary medicines for sale via the Internet. This includes veterinary medicines with a marketing authorization or with an exemption to this. These can be found here:

• Veterinary medicines listed in the Veterinary Medicines Information Database
• Veterinary medicines with an exemption for specific companion animals
• Veterinary medicines included in the summary list of veterinary medicines expiring on January 28, 2022. These veterinary drugs are still subject to a sell-out period.

Information on applying for a marketing authorization for a veterinary drug can be found here.
If you exclusively sell products that do not meet the above requirements, you cannot be included in the Register of Internet Trade in Veterinary Medicines.

For registration in the Register Internethandel Diergeneesmiddelen, a CoC extract and answering a questionnaire are required. A registration for your own web address, with the URL linked to your webshop, is sufficient. You do not need to register again separately for sales via bol.com. However, it is important that the registered company name in the registry matches the name with which you sell at bol.com. If you do not have your own website but sell exclusively via bol.com, you can fill in “exclusively via bol.com” at web address.

Seresto

Do you want to (continue to) offer veterinary medicines of the Seresto brand? From now on, this is only possible if you can prove that your assortment was obtained through an official distribution channel of the brand in question. Apply for selling rights from February 13 and before March 6 via the link. 

Power collars for animals

In response to the amendment of Article 2.1 of the Animals Act it has been decided to stop selling power collars for animals in both the Netherlands and Belgium. This amendment states that there is a total legal ban on the use of electric collars. This specifically involves devices that can inflict pain on the animal by means of electric currents, electromagnetic signals or radiation.

Because we put animal safety and health above commercial interests, we choose to go beyond the legislation in this regard. That is why we have decided to also stop offering these items in Belgium, despite the fact that there is no law for this in Belgium (yet).

CLP Safety warnings

Some consumer products hold safety information on its packaging. To ensure the safety and quality of our collective range and to comply with European directives, this safety information must also be displayed on the product page. This obligation is stated in European Regulations. More information on these regulations can be found here: CLP.

Mandatory safety information can be found on the item’s packaging. Comprehensive safety information can be found on the Safety Data Sheet (SDS). You can request the SDS from the supplier of the item.

This applies to product groups with items containing hazardous substances. Examples include items such as superglue, detergent and washing-up liquid. For your assortment, make sure the following attributes provide information, corresponding with the safety information on the product packaging’s label:

• SIGNALING WORD: ‘Danger’ or ‘Warning’.
• DANGER INDICATIONS: on the label, these can be found under the heading hazard statements. They can be identified by the h-codes on the SDS.
• PRECAUTIONS: these are the recommended precautions. They can be identified by the p-codes on the SDS.

CBD

To safely offer items containing CBD (Cannabidiol) to our customers (and their pets), these items must comply with additional guidelines. CBD articles must comply with the conditions below, in addition to the applicable laws and regulations. CBD for human consumption is also required to comply with the Food and Drink Policy.

CBD for human consumption

• CBD items are only allowed in product group for supplements, as this is a food supplement.
• Food and beverages with added CBD are not allowed on platform. See  here more  information on the Food and Drink  Policy.
• Selling CBD supplements in Belgium? See  here more information on dietary supplements in selling Belgium.

Additional conditions:

• CBD articles should comply with the mandatory GDSN registration with GS1 required for food supplements. For more information on this GS1 registration in Belgium and the Netherlands.
• No active THC allowed, and it is mandatory to state the THC content. Listing an incorrect content is considered food fraud.
• You are not allowed to make medical claims, nor are you allowed to make health claims if they are not approved for the item in question. Please check whether your claim is allowed in the claims database.
• The item may not contain doses of active ingredients, making it subject to drug legislation.
• NOTE: Dietary supplements are subject to strict labelling requirements. These should be correctly labelled with additional information on the name and conditions of use of the item.
• When the product attribute ‘Type of herb or plant’ is filled in with ‘CBD’, it is mandatory to fill in the product attribute ‘THC content’ with a percentage.

CBD for animal consumption

For the safety of pets of our joint customers, it is important to comply with the following conditions:

• Only approved varieties of hemp are allowed in CBD articles for animals. See more information on this legislation here.
• It is mandatory to enter the full ingredients of the item in the product attribute provided. These should correspond to the actual content of the item.

The European Quality Mark for Organic (Skal)

To ensure that our customers receive verified organic items, and we comply with the laws and regulations concerning organic items, we have set up a number of additional guidelines for the use of the Skal seal. 

What is SKAL and what does it mean for sales of organic items? 

SKAL is an independent administrative body that ensures that the production, processing and trading of organic items is done in a controlled and registered way. 

Within the food, food supplements, animal food, plants and flower bulbs product groups, the term organic is a protected term. It may only be used for items that have been evaluated. You can recognise these items by the European Quality Mark for Organic, also known as the green leaf. The quality marks Agriculture Biologique, Demeter and EKO also meet SKAL’s requirements. The quality marks, therefore, may also display the green leaf on items. Any company that offers these products to our customers through our platform will have to register. Bol may only offer and trade in demonstrably certified organic items. This means that both the middleman and the producer must be certified. 

Items must comply with: 

1. EU organic regulation
2. Dutch agricultural quality legislation
3. The regulations and bases of SKAL Bio control

What are the additional conditions for selling on our platform? 

1. Make sure your company is SKAL certified to trade organic items. 
2. Make sure your storage of items meets SKAL storage requirements.
3. Apply for the ‘European Organic Label’,‘Agriculture Biologique’, ‘Demeter’ or ‘EKO’ sustainability label here so that your organic range is properly labelled on our website. 
4. The SKAL code NL-BIO-01 must be visible on the invoice to customers. To get the SKAL code on the invoice, it is important to put the SKAL code (NL-BIO-01) in the title of the organic product. By putting the code in the title, the code will automatically appear on the invoice to the customer. We recommend putting the code at the back of the title. 

Promotion of dog and cat breeds

We do not promote items that refer to certain dog and cat breeds that are health risks due to harmful external features. Examples include short-snouted breeds, such as French Bulldogs and Persian cats. The full list of breeds and more information can be found on Dier&Recht. So this means that these products are not included in marketing campaigns. 

Cosmetics

To ensure that we offer safe cosmetic items to our joint customers, it is mandatory to comply with the applicable legislation for cosmetic products in EU, NL and BE. To comply with this, we have prepared the information and guidelines below. Please make sure you are aware of the legal requirements that apply to selling cosmetics.

What is a cosmetic?

“Any substances or mixtures intended to be brought into contact with the parts of the human body surface (epidermis, hair, hair, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the mouth, with the sole or principal purpose of cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance and/or protecting or keeping the aforementioned parts of the body in good condition or correcting body odours” (Article 2.1a of the Cosmetics Regulation EC 1223/2009.).

Product safety and regulated ingredients

To ensure customer safety, the Cosmetics Regulation EC 1223/2009 requires every product to be assessed and found safe by a qualified safety assessor before it is sold. The responsible party (also called the Responsible Person/Responsible Person) is a person or company and must be able to make available a valid Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) from the safety assessor at all times. This must show that the product has been found safe by an authorised assessor and that the product meets all legal safety requirements. For confirmation, we can request this safety assessment from you, among other things. Cosmetics must be made and packaged according to certain hygiene standards (ISO 22716), this cannot just be done in the kitchen.

Once there is a serious suspicion that the range is dangerous for the customer, your range may be (temporarily) offline while we assess the (potentially) dangerous items. Responsible party of the article ensures that the correct documentation is available, when notification/assessment is involved.

Of course, it is not allowed to offer items containing banned ingredients, such as Lilial (BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL). Some substances are allowed in limited quantities. Cosmetics regulation EC 1223/2009 contains lists of:

• Prohibited substances (Annex II)
• Substances allowed in cosmetic products with set restrictions (Annexes III, IV, V and VI)

These lists and their restrictions change regularly. Make sure that the safety assessment (CPSR) remains up to date with changes in the product and with changes in legislation and thus that your products do not contain a recently banned substance or exceed recently (updated) restrictions. Also ensure that labels and online information are updated to the latest requirements regarding mandatory product information, instructions for use and warnings. Use the DIY Compliance manager to check whether ingredients comply with the latest legal restrictions and conditions.

Maximum concentrations for the substances Octocrylene and Benzophenone-3

Maximum concentrations for the substances Octocrylene and Benzophenone-3 apply. This means:

• Benzophenone-3 may be used up to a maximum concentration of 6% as a UV filter in products for face, hands and lips, excluding products in aerosols and spray pumps.
• Benzophenone-3 may be used up to a maximum concentration of 2% as a Uv filter in body products, including products in aerosols or spray pumps.
• In other products, Benzophenone-3 may be used as a Uv filter up to a maximum concentration of 0.5%.
• The use of Octocrylene as a Uv filter in products in aerosols is limited to a maximum concentration of 9%.
• The use of Octocrylene as a Uv filter in other products is limited to a maximum concentration of 10%.

In addition, products containing Benzophenone will be required to carry a warning label that reads, “Contains Benzophenone-3.”

Do you have any questions about the maximum concentrations of substances in your items? Please ask your supplier those questions. You can find more information on the EU-website.

Information on labels and online sales pages

For any cosmetic product, mandatory information about the product and its safe use must be available to consumers on the product itself and on the outer packaging and, in the case of online sales, also on the product’s sales page. If it is not possible to label the packaging, the option is to add a card with information.

Consumers (and authorities) should be able to see the following minimum mandatory information on the item, packaging and online sales page:

1. Name and cosmetic function of the product (e.g. body lotion, baby shampoo, etc.)
2. Ingredient list (in INCI nomenclature)
3. Name and contact details of the Responsible Person in the EU
4. Instructions and warnings for safe use (e.g. For hair colouring)
5. Country of origin (if non-EU)
6. Content (in g or ml)
7. Period after opening (in months)
8. In addition, the batch/lot code for traceability and shelf life should be mandatory on the label (but not online)

Make sure at least the mandatory product information (ingredient list, contents, period after opening and country of origin) is filled on the product page for your cosmetics range.

The list of ingredients must be displayed according to the international INCI naming standard. You must state the other information and instructions for use at least in the language(s) of the region where you market the product, i.e. in Dutch for products on the Dutch market and in Dutch and French for products on the Belgian market. More information can be found on Cosmetics Europe‘s website here. In addition, please ensure that the information is easy to read for our customers.

Ingredients obligation in INCI nomenclature

With cosmetics, it is compulsory to list the ingredients, for this you use the attribute ingredients. A clear and correct list of ingredients is compulsory, so that the composition of the cosmetic product is clear to everyone. The list should be drawn up in order of decreasing weight at the time of addition to the cosmetic product.

Ingredients must be listed with the correct INCI (International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient) names. The European ingredient database Cosmile provides information on cosmetic ingredients.

Consumers with ingredient-specific allergies can therefore easily recognise ingredients, for example.

Cosmetic products registration

To sell a cosmetic product in the EU, it must have a responsible party (aka the Responsible Person/Responsible Person) with an address within the EU and the product must have been notified by the Responsible Person in the central EU system (Cosmetic Product Notification Portal, CPNP).

Do you make cosmetic products yourself? Or are you the person/company importing the products from outside into the European Union? Then according to the law, you are automatically the responsible party, unless this responsibility has already been taken over by another person/company (notifying party and indication on the label). If you are responsible yourself, make sure your products meet all the requirements AND that your products have been correctly notified (notified) in the CPNP. Non-notified cosmetic products may not be sold in the EU. To confirm that your items comply with the guidelines, we can request confirmation of CPNP registration from you, among other things.

Claims and advertising

For cosmetics products, both on the label and on online sales pages, no claims and advertisements may be made that violate the basic criteria described in Regulation 655/2013 and related directives.

This regulation states that claims must comply with all legal requirements and claims must not mislead the consumer or any other end user.

Basically, claims must meet the following criteria:

• Compliance with legal requirements
  Failure to claim that a product complies with legal requirements
• Correctness
  If it is claimed that a product contains a particular ingredient, that ingredient must also be in the product.
  Claims about the properties of a specific ingredient must not give the impression that the finished product also has those properties when it does not.
• Evidence
  Claims must be supported by sufficient and testable evidence
• Fairness
  It is not allowed to claim specific characteristics when similar products have the same characteristics.
  When the effect of a product depends on its use in combination with another product, this must be clearly stated.
  Claims must not go beyond what can be substantiated.
• Biliqueness
  Claims should be objective and should not be derogatory to ingredients or competition.
• Making informed decisions
  Claims should be clearly accurate, relevant and understandable to the average end-user.
  Claims should also contain information that enables end-users to make an informed choice.