Korea Cracking Down on Spurious Cosmetic Advertising

On 27 Apr 2018, Korean MFDS released a notice standardizing cosmetic advertising. Manufacturers and distributors producing or selling general and functional cosmetics shall check if their products are noncompliant and include:

1. Use of advertisements, labeling terminology or claims that imply pharmaceutical functions

2. Advertising content beyond the scope of functional cosmetic efficacy evaluation or not consistent with the results of the evaluation;

3. Content in violation of Guidelines for Management of Labelling and Advertising of Cosmetics, such as hair growth, hair loss prevention, body hair removal, etc. ;

4. Is a non-functional cosmetic product but includes content which implies the product is a functional cosmetic including efficacy claims, such as hair loss prevention.

The notice was released because the MFDS has received several complaints that the advertised efficacy of hair growth and hair loss prevention products is inconsistent with reality. The MFDS will conduct a thorough inspection in May. It is hoped that the manufacturers and distributors will actively cooperate to avoid similar violations, otherwise the products will be seized by authorities.