In March, the Shanghai Market Supervision Bureau and the Shanghai Medical Products Administrative Bureau jointly issued the “Shanghai Cosmetic Industry Advertising Compliance Guidelines” (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines are based on the national Advertisement Law (as amended 2021) and Cosmetic Labeling Administration Provisions issued by the National Medical Products Administration in 2021. The Guidelines offer practical guidance and direction in this area.
For example, the Guidelines provide that cosmetic manufacturers and distributors should integrate advertisement compliance into company regulatory compliance systems, including by forming an advertisement review and approval process to manage the design, production, and release of advertisements, to ensure the traceability of advertisements, and to ensure regular recordkeeping for no less than three years.
The Guidelines emphasize that Internet advertising must comply with both general advertising law and those specific to the Internet (e.g., rules released in 2016, see here). This emphasis is significant because Internet advertising has gradually replaced advertisements in traditional media (e.g., television, print news). Internet advertising includes advertisements on company websites, WeChat accounts, mobile apps, and other social media sites. Despite this expansion, historically there has been confusion about the applicability of advertising rules to Internet-based content. The Guidelines provide some additional clarity in this respect, including requiring that influencers’ recommendations of cosmetic products on social media comply with advertising regulations, and marking those posts as “advertising” (already a general requirement under the 2016 advertising rules on Internet advertising) if the post contains a link to a site where a consumer can purchase the product.
Regarding product claims, the Guidelines provide do’s and don’ts, some of which repeat prohibitions in existing rules. For example:
- Advertisements for anti-wrinkle products must not claim wrinkle removal effects.
- Advertisements for hair care products must not claim to repair damaged hair or split ends.
- Claims that a product does not contain an illegal ingredient (i.e., “heavy metal free”) are prohibited.
- Cosmetics advertisements must not claim that cosmetics are “pure natural” or “organic,” or make broad statements that a product does not contain allergens.
A full copy of the Guidelines is available here.
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Contributors for the China & APAC Food, Drug, Device, and Cosmetics blog:
John Balzano, Julia Post, Muyun Hu, Kaixin Fan, and Kexin Yang.