ACCC Looks to Reduce Injuries Caused by Cosmetics
Thursday 23 October 2014 @ 10.10 a.m. | Legal Research | Trade & Commerce
In a speech to the Accord Cosmetic & Personal Care Conference on 22 October 2014, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Deputy Chair, Delia Rickard, outlined activities aimed at ensuring safe products and accurate marketing claims in the cosmetic industry and also noted that cosmetics accounted for approximately 30 per cent of injury reports in the past year.
Injuries from Unsafe Products
Thousands of Australians are being injured by mislabelled and poor-quality products, with one-third of injury reports made to the consumer watchdog in the past year relating to cosmetics.
The ACCC Deputy Chair said:
"The injuries can be quite horrendous, especially for those with allergies … We see skin infections, bacterial conjunctivitis, folliculitis, corneal ulcers and anaphylactic shocks, which is why ingredients labelling is very important indeed."
Nearly 400 or the 1400 mandatory injury reports - reports made by suppliers to the watchdog when they become aware of an incident where a product has or may have caused death, serious injury or illness - were linked to cosmetics.
Ms Rickard said increased demand for natural, organic and toxin-free beauty products was placing intense pressure on product makers to use fewer preservatives or fewer effective natural preservatives. Consumers were therefore at a higher risk of being exposed to microbiological hazards.
The mandatory standard for cosmetic ingredient labelling (cosmetics labelling standard) helps consumers identify ingredients that they may be allergic or sensitive to. The standard also allows consumers to compare products at the point of sale.
The ACCC Investigation
An ACCC investigation into microbiological contamination last year found ingredient lists on 20 per cent of cosmetic products did not comply with labelling rules.
Ms Rickard also struck out at cosmetic companies large and small for making sweeping claims about products being "chemical free":
"We struggle to understand how this claim can possibly be accurate as all products contain chemicals whether naturally occurring or not ... We can ask suppliers to substantiate claims made about goods and penalties may apply if a claim has been made that cannot be substantiated."
ACCC Surveillance and Further Investigations
A separate investigation into deodorants in 2014 found some had ingredient labels that were not prominent or legible as required by the cosmetics labelling standard. It was triggered by a complaint from a consumer with an allergy who could not identify ingredients in a deodorant.
Ms Rickard also revealed that a 2013 audit of cosmetic-related injury reports showed most were linked with face washes and creams, body washes and creams, and deodorants:
"Some products had ingredient labelling that was inconsistent with their formulation lists, or displayed their ingredients list in a way that could not be considered to be prominent or legible."
Between July and September 2014, the ACCC conducted surveillance activities on 202 cosmetic-selling retailers and found 16 were non-compliant.
She said there was an extra focus on beauty products which have no ingredient labelling and where ingredient labelling is in a language other than English, which were mainly being sold from discount variety stores serving a predominantly non-English speaking background customer base.
Recent Seizure of Counterfeit Products
During July 2014, NSW Fair Trading seized more than 8000 counterfeit MAC-branded products at two stores in Sydney CBD and a Western Sydney warehouse after receiving reports of injuries. One woman experienced burns to her face.
To access the speech, “Cosmetic compliance and safety and the Australian Consumer Law” click here.
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Sources:
ACCC looks to reduce injuries caused by cosmetics – ACCC Release MR 258/14
One-third of injury reports linked with cosmetics – Article from smh.com.au
