Don’t Be Silly! These Are the Proper Cosmetic Claims Terms
“When implementing a marketing strategy, cosmetic business actors are required to comply with the provisions for advertising and product marking according to regulations from The National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM).”
Along with the development of innovation in various types of beauty products on the market, business actors in this industry continue to compete to win the competition. One of the marketing strategies is to include claims on each cosmetic product.
So, it is not surprising that we often come across cosmetic advertisements with claims covered in interesting sentences, thus tempting consumers to buy these products.
Unfortunately, because they want their products to sell quickly, it is not uncommon for business actors to make cosmetic claims that seem too excessive. Sometimes it even tends to be misleading.
Some examples such as, “This product can remove stubborn blackheads on the face!” or “Don’t hesitate, this product is proven to whiten your face in a week without any side effects!”
To protect consumers against misleading and non-objective claims, BPOM has issued Regulation of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency Number 3 of 2022 concerning Technical Requirements for Cosmetic Claims (BPOM Regulation Number 3 of 2022).
The provisions contained in BPOM Regulation Number 3 of 2022 should be complied with by every business actor engaged in the cosmetics industry or trade.
Definition of Cosmetic Claim
Claims are statements in the form of information regarding benefits, safety, and/or other statements related to cosmetics. This definition is under BPOM Regulation Number 3 of 2022.
The use of claims could be made to carry out promotions, both through advertisements and in product marking by complying with various criteria and guidelines.
Claim Criteria
In making a claim, business actors must meet the following criteria (BPOM Regulation Number 3 of 2022):
- Legal obedience
- Truth
- Fairness
- Justice
- Provable
- Clear and easy to understand
- Cannot be allowed to pretend as if it is a medicine or aims to prevent a disease
General Claims Guidelines
In addition, business actors are also required to refer to various guidelines as follows (Attachment to BPOM Regulation Number 3 of 2022):
- Claims are evaluated from the whole sentence
- Claims should be true and provable
- Claims should be objective, not degrading the company, organization, industry, or competitor’s products
- Claims do not promise instantaneous absolute results
- The claim does not use sentences that aim to treat as if as a cure or prevent a disease or use words that refer to medical terms
- The claim does not describe or give the impression of any recommendation, recommendation, or information regarding the use of cosmetics from a laboratory, research institution, government agency, health or beauty professional organizations, and/or health workers.
- Claims not admitted:
- Name;
- Logo/symbol; and/or
- Identity from the ministry/institution and/or laboratory/agencies conducting the analysis. In addition, claims are also prohibited from issuing certificates for cosmetics, except for logos with names attached to a single unit, for example, the halal logo of the Indonesian Council of Religious Scholars.
- The claim does not use excessive words such as “harmless”, “no side effects”, “potent”, and/or words/sentences that have the same meaning.
- Unless accompanied by reliable evidence, claims are prohibited:
- Include a statement issued by a particular organization or institution
- Using redundant words like “safe”. For example: “safe for sensitive skin when used by the provisions”
- Using superlative words such as “most”, “number one”, “top”, or words starting with “-ter”, and/or have the same meaning
- Using the words “100%”, “pure”, “original” or the same meaning to state something content, grade, weight, quality level, and so on
- The claim does not use the word “the only one”, “just”, “only”, or which means the same
- The claim does not include a statement that does not contain the name of the ingredient that is allowed in cosmetics. However, the exception is for materials related to culture, religion, aroma, and/or which are proven to cause allergies. For example: alcohol-free, and others.
- The claim does not include a statement that it does not contain ingredients that are prohibited in cosmetics.
- The claim does not include a statement on how to use it outside the definition of cosmetics.
Examples of Allowed and Not Allowed Claims Guidelines
As a guide, business actors can look at the examples that have been provided by BPOM in the Attachment to BPOM Regulation Number 3 of 2022.
The following are some examples of claims that are allowed and not allowed in advertising and product labeling (packaging), including:
- Allowed claims
- For eye mask products: remove dead skin cells
- For baby fragrance products: giving fragrance and freshness to the body
- For deodorant products: reduce body odor
- For skin cleansing products: help maintain/care for facial skin moisture
- For dental party products: cleaning teeth and mouth
- And others.
- Claims not allowed
- Reduce itching due to mosquito bites
- Eliminate mosquito bites
- Whiten face
- Prevents and removes wrinkles
- Relieve stress
- Get rid of dark spots on the face
- Promote blood circulation
- Eliminate / overcome / stop acne
Penalty
Then, for business actors or owners of notification numbers (marketing authorization) who do not comply with the claims provisions in BPOM Regulation Number 3 of 2022, they are threatened with administrative penalties in the form of:
- Written warning;
- Withdrawal;
- Annihilation;
- Temporary suspension of activities;
- Cancellation/revocation of notification number;
- Announcement to the public; and/or
- Recommendations to relevant agencies as a follow-up to the results of supervision
Do you still confused about taking care of cosmetic product claims? Please consult us, Prolegal!
Author: Faiz Azhanzi Yazid
Editor: Bidari Aufa Sinarizqi
Translator: Angelie Kartika Putri