Turkey’s rule for barcodes on cosmetics ‘a burden’

Turkey recently introduced a regulation that requires all cosmetics products sold in the country to display barcodes, to allow the government to impose tighter market controls.

All cosmetics must feature a barcode that allows them to be traced by the country’s new product tracking system (UTS).

In a recent report from Chemical Watch​, it was revealed that the new regulation is presenting a ‘financial burden’ to the country’s SMEs, who are struggling with the extra costs associated with complying with the packaging update.

Burak Ayan, regulatory affairs consultant at Ayansan Chemicals Consultancy, told the publication: "For legitimate SMEs that do not have barcodes, it will be an extra financial burden."​

Counterfeits and tracking​

The new UTS system in Turkey is intended to control the trade that goes on ‘under the counter’ in the country, including the sale of imitation, counterfeit goods.

Counterfeiting has been in the spotlight in Europe recently, with household name e-tailers like Amazon and Ebay among those having been called on to stem the flow of knock-off goods that seems to be rising.​

Stuart Fuller, director of commercial operations at online brand protection specialist, NetNames, recently confirmed the impact onto the beauty industry to CosmeticsDesign.

He said; “For beauty brands, safeguarding genuine customer traffic and protecting the legitimate route-to-market is of paramount importance to maximise the opportunities that online channels offer​.”​

Russia: case study​

In Russia this summer, Christian Louboutin won a lawsuit against four Russian companies for selling imitation Louboutin fragrances.

The court ruled that the companies in question - InterLuxParfum, Image Parfum, Klementina and InterPrestige Group - has unlawfully used trademarks owned by Louboutin.

They have been ordered to pay a total of 24 million rubles for violation of trademark rights to the French luxury fashion brand.