Misleading or fraudulent advertising for organic skin care products has become a problem in South Korea. Following both consumer complaints and its own investigations, the Korea Consumer Agency and Fair Trade Commission have proposed stricter laws and regulations to combat the problem.
According to the Korea Consumer Agency, it is important for consumers to check products and make sure a product is truly organic since many are sold without proper labels.
A study performed by the Agency revealed that, after examining 50 cosmetics on the South Korean market, 35 of the products violated commercial guidelines and labelling regulations. Out of the 35 cosmetic products, 11 were domestic products while the majority, 24, were imported, mainly from France.
The remaining 15 of the tested products had not displayed their ingredient details for consumers to see. Of these, 13 were Korean and two were imports. In the light of these examples, the Fair Trade Commission has announced there will be a revision to the Fair Labelling and Advertising Act from November.
