China will halt imports of SK-II products if excessive traces of heavy metals
are detected again in the future, said an official with the state quality
watchdog.
Neodymium and chromium - substances banned in cosmetics which can cause
allergic dermatitis and eczema - were detected last week in the Japanese
cosmetic brand SK-II.
"If serious quality problems were found again, China would ban imports of
SK-II products," said the official with the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
The official said that "quality and quarantine departments will keep a close
eye on products that concern consumers' safety and health".
The administration urged the cosmetics producer to strictly follow China's
quality standards to ensure people's health.
SK-II, a famous Japanese cosmetic brand, which claims to have whitening and
lifting effects on skin, is widely used by Chinese women.
P&G China, the distributor of SK-II in China, has begun to recall the
suspect products. As of Monday, nine kinds of problematic products had been
removed from 13 SK-II shops in Beijing.
The cosmetics maker, however, is requiring consumers to sign a so-called
"safe product" agreement, in which they recognize that the SK-II products they
bought are safe before being able to hand back the harmful products.
"Otherwise, the products cannot be withdrawn", said a telephone operator of
the SK-II company in China.
An employee with the company's Beijing branch said: "We believe only a small
batch of products suffered the problem."
Qiu Baochang, a lawyer with the Beijing lawyer association, said the
agreement is inequitable and consumers can refuse to sign it.
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