CosmeticsBridge Regulatory Alert, recently a domestic cosmetic company in China was punished and fined by Shanghai Bureau of Market Supervision for advertising “anti-aging” functions of the cosmetic products on eCommerce platforms.
According to our insights, the product has been tested for moisturizing, anti-wrinkle, and soothing functions. In the general marketing strategy, it is enough to support to claim of the product’s own anti-aging functions. And the brand also stands that anti-wrinkle is equal to anti-aging efficacy. However, the China authority does not think the same way.
▍According to the decision of the administrative penalty decision
The Cosmetics were sold on T-maill platform and advertising the products has “Anti-aging” effects, the Bureau believes that the parties, as advertisers, use expressions that are inconsistent with objective facts in their own website advertising content, which directly affects the purchase judgment and willingness of specific audiences. It violates Article 4 of the “Advertising Law of the People’s Republic of China”: “Advertising shall not contain false or misleading content, and shall not deceive or mislead consumers. Advertisers shall be responsible for the authenticity of the advertising content.”
As a result, the Shanghai Bureau of Market Supervision ordered the company to stop publishing advertisements, eliminate the impact within the corresponding scope, and fined 4,000 RMB.
According to the CosmeticsBridge Survey, the products were notified in October 2021, and the efficacy evaluation was completed in January this year. The functions included in the notification system are moisturizing, anti-wrinkle, and soothing.
Does this mean that anti-wrinkle is not equal to anti-aging? So what should brands do to claim anti-aging? The statement given to them by the regulatory authorities is, “The scope of anti-aging is too large, and only one anti-wrinkle effect can prove that this product is anti-aging. The current laws and regulations do not allow skin care products to claim anti-aging. If you want to claim, you must Do all the cosmetic efficacy testing items, and need the hospital to issue an efficacy certificate.”
“Anti-wrinkle, firming does not equal anti-aging”
As we all know, under the new regulatory system, the “Cosmetics Classification Rules and Classification Catalog” divides cosmetic efficacy into 26 categories and new functions. From May 1, 2021, cosmetics registrants and filling person shall fill in the product classification code according to the “Classification Rules” when applying for registration of special cosmetics or filing of ordinary cosmetics.
Anti-aging is not included in the catalog of cosmetic efficacy claims, but CosmeticsBridge found that anti-aging is one of the most popular claims at the moment, and many brands owns anti-aging functions products.
Everyone has always believed that anti-aging is anti-wrinkle, anti-wrinkle or anti-oxidation, anti-free radicals and even anti-light are understood to correspond to anti-aging. “
However, under the new regulations, there are punishment cases ahead, and this consensus may be broken.
“It is best not to directly promote anti-aging claims in cosmetics. ” a cosmetic safety review expert from the NMPA suggested that anti-aging is a big proposition, whether it is skin anti-aging or anti-aging of the entire human body. The standard has not been defined yet.
He also pointed out that as far as the theory of free radical aging is concerned, it can only explain part of the phenomenon of anti-aging, but not all. Therefore, it is difficult for the anti-aging of cosmetics to be approved by the NMPA as a new effect.
