Hazardous Cosmetics sell on Thailand’s e-marketplace Platform

Abstract

Background:  Currently, the e-commerce marketplace is a popular cosmetic trading channel for Thai consumers. There is a continuous growth trend. Meanwhile, on the platform e-marketplace, they are still selling products that are not legal in Thailand.

Objectives: To study the policies and features of webpages where cosmetic products are sold on the e-marketplace platform, which is popular with consumers in Thailand. Besides, it studied the completeness of the label and the accuracy of advertising according to the laws of Thailand.

Methods: It was a descriptive study by selecting a specific sample from the platform webpages. The top two were designated as service providers A and B, and then collected the user's webpage data using the trade name of cosmetics that are prohibited to produce, import, or sell according to the announcement of the Thai Ministry of Public Health. A total of 37 items were collected between 3 and 10 June 2021, using content analysis on features and product distribution policies of the platform and descriptive statistics to demonstrate the situation of prevalence, legal maturity in labeling, and cosmetic advertising validity.

Results: The results of a study of web pages that sell cosmetic products on the platform found that the e-marketplaces of A and B were found to have similar selling policies to operators. They had to register, verify the seller's identity, and showed products on the web page of the trading platform freely under the terms of the platform. Consumers could search for products through a search engine, browse the products of interest through text, images, and text, and log in to pay for and arrange delivery. There was a menu for complaints and problems, store or product ratings, and consumer reviews, but A showed the cumulative sales volume of each item. In addition, both platforms made it mandatory for dietary supplements to specify a food serial number, but not for the cosmetic category. When searching for the sale of hazardous cosmetics that were prohibited for sale according to the announcement of 37 names, it was found that providers A and B were selling those items at 32.43 and 27.04%, respectively. There were 200 webpages selling dangerous cosmetics. Of the 200 web page labeling requirements, 100.0% of the label images were found on the web pages, but none of the products indicated the receipt number on the label, and we found the name of the substance used as an ingredient was 41.70%. As for the advertisement, the most common fault was in the use of text showing medicinal properties at 54.50%, followed by the use of misleading messages in essence for false or exaggerated statements at 39.00 and 9.00%, respectively.

Conclusions: There were hazardous cosmetics for sale on the e-marketplace platform that the Thai Ministry of Public Health prohibited producing, importing and selling. There was labeling and advertising that missed the regularity, especially the use of messages showing properties to treat diseases. Therefore, the stakeholders should increase the measures of supervision and enhance the mechanisms that help protect consumers on the Internet so that they are more systematic and effective.