Like most things legislature, Australian labelling standards can be a tricky business for those who aren’t fluent in legal jargon, which is the case for a lot of us. Luckily here at bd, we love nothing more than trawling through the info and speaking to the experts to deliver the facts you need to know about cosmetic labelling standards in Australia.
The ingredients list
Probably the most scrutinised aspect of labelling laws, the ingredients of a cosmetic product have to be listed on the container or on the product itself, in descending order by volume or mass. However, as with most rules, there are alternatives to these requirements if the size or shape of a product inhibits a brand’s ability to comply with them.
Brand development advisor for New Directions, Melinda Tizzone runs a course known as Private Label Interactive, of which one of the course objectives is to help brand owners understand the ACCC labelling documentation. Interestingly, she says many people are amazed when they find out all the product ingredients need to be listed on the label in the correct descending order.
Many clients are unaware of this requirement and ideally many of them would like to leave out key ingredients to protect their formulation, and are unaware of the consequences for breaching such laws,” Tizzone says.
Amanda Foxon-Hill, cosmetic chemist and owner of Realize Beauty, says these days, brands aren’t so concerned with what’s in the ingredients list so much as what’s left out. The now long-standing move to ‘free form’ claims or marketing products based on what it doesn’t contain means that there is now a long list of ingredients that customers may not want,” she explains. As a chemist, it’s my job to point out some of the implications of making these choices.” For example, Foxon-Hill says a lot of clients want to use only natural” iron oxides, but this makes it difficult to formulate elegant products, adds cost and makes it difficult to stay under the heavy metals laws of Europe (iron oxides contain a high level of impurities in the form of lead and other metals, which the EU put a strict cap on).
Australian made vs. Australian owned
Australian Made, Australian Grown is the non-profit organisation responsible for administering and promoting the famous Australian Made” logo, of which there are three derivatives – Product of Australia, Australian Made, and Australian Grown. The definitions, which are governed by a set of rules approved by the Government, are as follows:
Product of Australia: All of the product’s significant ingredients come from Australia and all, or nearly all, of the manufacturing or processing has been carried out in Australia.
Australian Made: The product has actually been made here and more than 50 per cent of the cost of making it has been undertaken in Australia.
Australian Grown: All of the product’s significant ingredients are grown in Australia, and all, or nearly all of the processing has been carried out in Australia.
According to Helen Jacobs of Australian Made, Australian Owned, the application process for use of the logo is surprisingly simple and affordable. The annual licence fee starts at just above $250 plus GST for product sales up to and including $250,000,” she says. The fee is capped at $20,000 for sales of $20m and above, and processing takes three to four working days.”
Who monitors cosmetic labelling?
According to the ACCC, there are two main components to the issue of cosmetic ingredient labelling. The first is whether the ingredients used in the product are listed on the label, which is regulated by the ACCC. The second is whether the ingredients listed can legally be used in products supplied in Australia. The National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) is responsible for this second aspect.
An example of a recent breach was the use of included undeclared ingredients in hair straightening treatments,” says an ACCC spokesperson. Specifically, a number of products were recalled after they were found to contain formaldehyde that was not declared and, in some cases, also significantly exceeded the maximum legal limit.” It’s important to note here, that in such cases often the Australian distributor is not aware of a possible breach and in good faith has relied on full declaration of ingredients from the company of origin.
Although brands can make country of origin claims without using the logo, it is possible such behaviour can result in accusations of misleading claims from consumers. In this instance, the ACCC can take legal action. We saw an example of this earlier this year when an online ugg boot trader was fined $430,000 for claiming its products were made in Australia when in fact they were made in China,” Jacobs says.
It all comes back to the consumer
The main point we try to get across to our clients is that these laws have been put in place to protect the safety of the consumer, and need to be transparent enough for the consumer to make an informed decision,” explains Tizzone.
The ACCC says consumer complaints about cosmetic labelling are varied. Previous complaints have included that the font was too small to be easily read, that there was no list of ingredients, or that a particular ingredient wasn’t included on the ingredients list,” our ACCC spokesperson says.
