Cosmetics management to be improved for the benefit of consumers
- Regdate2012-02-06 08:58
- Hit5,846
Cosmetics management to be improved for the benefit of consumers
- Sales of sample cosmetics will be banned and instead of the manufacturing year and date, the use-by date will be indicated.
- Manufacturers and sellers shall be able to prove that product information indication and advertisement that they provide are accurate and true.
- Revised Cosmetics Act will be implemented on 5 Feb.
Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Rim, Chae Min) said that the revised Cosmetics Act
that was promulgated in Aug. last year will be implemented as of 5 Feb. after a grace period of
six months.
Major details in the revised Cosmetics Act directly related to the consumers’
convenience are as below.
First of all, it was made clear that sales of sample cosmetics are prohibited.
- Sample cosmetics should be offered to consumers for the purpose of promotion and test, etc
for free of charge.
- There has been no legal ground for punishment or control even when some sellers sell sample
cosmetics to consumers either online or offline.
- Since there is no legal obligation that requires sample products to have the use-by date or the
period of use after the opening of the products indicated besides the name of the product and the
brand name, there is possibility that consumers may suffer damage due to quality degradation
resulting from passing the use-by date and it is difficult to prevent any possible damage caused
by counterfeit or fake products.
- In this regard, the revised Cosmetics Act has made it clear that sales of sample items that are
manufactured and imported and are to be offered to consumers for testing for the purpose of
promotion and sales facilitation are strictly prohibited. (Article 16, Para. 1)
* When sample products are sold for profit, the seller will be subject to less than one year of
imprisonment or less than 5 million won of penalty.
Secondly, the use period from the opening of the product or the use-by date is required to be
indicated on the product package.
- Manufacturers and sellers are obligated to indicate the “use-by date” or the “use period after the
opening of the product (when the use period after the opening of the product is indicated, the
manufacturing year and date shall be also included) instead of the “manufacturing year and date”
on the package so that consumers may have more accurate information that they need when
choosing cosmetics. (Article 10, Para 1)
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* Use-by date: The date by which consumers can use the product with no concern about its quality under the assumption that the product has been kept under proper conditions from the day it was manufactured.
*Use period after the opening of the product: The minimum period during which consumers can use the product with no concern about its quality under the assumption that the product has been kept and used under the proper conditions from the day it was opened by the consumer. |
- Previously, manufacturers indicated the manufacturing year and date selectively, but the
revised Act requires them to indicate the “use-by date” or the “use period after the opening of the
product” on the package (primary package). (Article 10, Para 2)
Thirdly, manufacturers and distributors shall be able to prove the product information
indication and advertisement that they make and provide are accurate and true.
- This is to prevent exaggerative or false information and advertisements by cosmetics
manufacturers and sellers and to secure the public trust in cosmetics quality.
- In this regard, manufacturing sellers shall be able to prove that the product information and
advertisement that they provide are accurate and true.
- Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration can request manufacturing sellers for
submission of related data if he sees that their product information indication or advertisement
needs verification as they could deceive or mislead consumers with false information. (Article 14
- If the manufacturing seller fails to submit verification data, Commissioner of Food and Drug
Administration will order the suspension of the advertisement of the concerned product and if the
manufacturing seller violates the order, it will be subject to less than one year of imprisonment or
less than 5 million won of penalty.
□ Ministry of Health and Welfare expects that the revised Cosmetics Act will help ensure safe use of cosmetics by consumers and enhance their right to accurate information as well as improve consumers’ confidence in cosmetics quality through the prohibition of sales of sample products, the revised way of the indication of the manufacturing date, and the adoption of the concept of manufacturing sellers’ obligation for verification of the product information and advertisement into the Act.
[ENG][1.31]Cosmetics management to be improved for the benefit of consumers .docx