Investigation into Illegal Cosmetic Distribution Conducted... Busan Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 12 Locations Exploiting 'Surge in Demand'

The Special Judicial Police Division of Busan City conducted a planned investigation from December last year to March this year targeting cosmetics wholesalers, responsible sales companies, and online cosmetics retailers to check ▲compliance with cosmetics safety management standards ▲violations of labeling and indication requirements ▲whether there were any advertisements or labels that could be mistaken for pharmaceuticals, resulting in the detection of 12 companies.

This planned investigation was carried out to eradicate illegal distribution and sales of cosmetics that have increased along with the recovery of daily life and rising demand for color cosmetics, enabling citizens to safely and properly select and purchase cosmetics.

Key cases detected include ▲one responsible sales company importing and selling cosmetics that did not meet the microbial limit standards under the safety management criteria for distributed cosmetics ▲one online retailer advertising cosmetics as effective in removing triglycerides from the blood, potentially misleading consumers to mistake them for pharmaceuticals ▲five online sales companies selling cosmetics with barcodes and other labels removed, making quality assurance verification impossible ▲four cosmetics wholesalers distributing and selling sample cosmetics manufactured for promotion and sales stimulation ▲one online retailer selling cosmetics without secondary packaging, making it impossible to know the expiration date, manufacturing number, and other labeling information.

Regarding planned investigations, cosmetics with damaged secondary packaging (barcode) are being sold.

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The Busan Special Judicial Police plan to file criminal charges against the responsible persons of the detected companies and refer the cases to the prosecution. Violating companies are subject to imprisonment of up to three years or fines of up to 30 million won under Article 36, Paragraph 1 of the Cosmetics Act.

Kim Kyung-deok, Director of the Citizen Safety Office of Busan City, stated, “Busan City will continue to conduct ongoing crackdowns and impose penalties on illegal distribution and sales activities that have increased alongside the recovery of daily life and the rising trend in cosmetics consumption.”

Status of Violating Companies. [Image source=Busan City Special Judicial Police]

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