Maha Govt Soon to Mandate Sale Licenses for Cosmetics

MUMBAI:
Maharashtra government will soon mandate issuance of sale licenses for cosmetics products to regulate its sale and supply based on the proposal sent by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amid reports of rampant illegal sale of spurious cosmetics over the past few months.
This will empower FDA to not only seize spurious cosmetic products but also give powers for prosecuting retailers found selling them. According to a senior FDA official, “We are also planning to hold talks with the cosmetic manufacturers to come out with tamper-proof packaging for curtailing circulation of fake cosmetics in the state”.
In the latest round of crackdown on circulation of spurious cosmetics in the market, the state regulator detected cases of spurious cosmetics being manufactured and allegedly sold in packs of reputed brands to customers in contravention to Section 27(a) (1) and Section 17 D (d) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
It was observed that offenders used to source out semi-finished products like shampoo, cream, ointment, oil and other products of the reputed brands and also the packaging material for further refilling and repacking for sale through online mode also.
FDA had last year made a massive crackdown against manufacturers of steroid-laden skin creams for making false claims of making a person fair in contravention to the labeling conditions of the drug rules.
A similar proposal by Maharashtra FDA to issue sale license for ayurvedic drugs to regulate circulation of spurious ayurvedic drugs in the market is pending with the state government.
Maharashtra FDA had also earlier submitted reports of action taken for non-compliance to Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act (DMR Act) 1954 to the state government to effectively control spurious sale of ayurvedic drugs.
In the ongoing crackdown for non-compliance, the state regulator found that ayurvedic drugs were mixed with allopathic medicines in contravention to the provisions of the DMR Act, 1954.
Maharashtra has about 75,000 chemists licensed with FDA to sell drugs and cosmetics. Based on the cases detected recently, the state regulator also launched around 78 prosecutions for violation of DMR Act 1954 under the provisions of Section 3(d) and Section 4.
Maharashtra FDA has also recently set up a special task force to address the issue of growing number of misleading advertisements broadcasted on electronic and print media with false health claims.
The main objective of DMR Act is to control the advertisement of drugs and cosmetics in certain cases and to prohibit the advertisement connected with remedies alleged to posses magic qualities and to provide for matters connected therewith.