- Original Poster
- #1
We want to import some well known skincare brands into the UK from South Korea to sell online. These brands are already for sale online from 10's of would-be competitors that also import these products. I don't understand how our competitors are sourcing these products legally.
For a cosmetic product to be legally sold in the UK:
1 - It must be SCPN (submit cosmetic product notification) registered
2 - It must have the ingredients on the label in English and
3 - It must have a Responsible Person (RP) with contact information and address on the label
Our problem is that none of the suppliers we've sourced in South Korea can provide us with these requirements, despite these products already being on the UK market from dozens of shops.
Now, I'm really struggling to find information on how this works. As part of our due dilligence we ordered the same three brands from 6 of the closest niche competitors. The packaging on most of the bottles did not have a responsible person on the label and matched exactly what our supplier from South Korea could supply to us.
The bottles from the two most reputable competitors had stickers replacing the ingredients list in english and referenceing a Responsible Person. The responsible person in these cases was a company and defferent for each brand. Also the responsible person was the same for both competitors. Somehow these competitors are able to access the brands UK Responsible Person and print stickers to apply to the brands. However I could not find much information about the Responsible Person online from the information on the bottles.
It doesn't seem feasable to me to have to register as the responsible person for these brands in the UK when they already have a responsible person who has the cosmestics safety files etc... however I am not sure how to get permission from the brand to use their Responsible Person - however I assume that's how it works and we will need to negotiate direct permission to import the brands from the brand owners to be able to use the responsible person as that will limit their liability, fakes etc, bad suppliers etc.
I just want to be sure that I'm on the right track as it seems our competitors are simply directly selling non complient cosmetics without an RP on the label.
We've hired a VA in South Korea to try and contact brands regarding this information however it's slow going.
If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.
For a cosmetic product to be legally sold in the UK:
1 - It must be SCPN (submit cosmetic product notification) registered
2 - It must have the ingredients on the label in English and
3 - It must have a Responsible Person (RP) with contact information and address on the label
Our problem is that none of the suppliers we've sourced in South Korea can provide us with these requirements, despite these products already being on the UK market from dozens of shops.
Now, I'm really struggling to find information on how this works. As part of our due dilligence we ordered the same three brands from 6 of the closest niche competitors. The packaging on most of the bottles did not have a responsible person on the label and matched exactly what our supplier from South Korea could supply to us.
The bottles from the two most reputable competitors had stickers replacing the ingredients list in english and referenceing a Responsible Person. The responsible person in these cases was a company and defferent for each brand. Also the responsible person was the same for both competitors. Somehow these competitors are able to access the brands UK Responsible Person and print stickers to apply to the brands. However I could not find much information about the Responsible Person online from the information on the bottles.
It doesn't seem feasable to me to have to register as the responsible person for these brands in the UK when they already have a responsible person who has the cosmestics safety files etc... however I am not sure how to get permission from the brand to use their Responsible Person - however I assume that's how it works and we will need to negotiate direct permission to import the brands from the brand owners to be able to use the responsible person as that will limit their liability, fakes etc, bad suppliers etc.
I just want to be sure that I'm on the right track as it seems our competitors are simply directly selling non complient cosmetics without an RP on the label.
We've hired a VA in South Korea to try and contact brands regarding this information however it's slow going.
If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.
