Consumer Council published a report on the ingredients of hair dye products in its latest issue of Consumer Report, an article about its delegation’s visit to Consumers International Office for Asia-Pacific & the Middle East is also featured.
Nowadays, consumers like to dye hair at home and various kinds of hair dye products appear due to increasing demand of consumers. p-Phenylenediamine (PPD), an ingredient found in hair dye products, is an allergen and many countries and regions have requested the labeling of PPD on the product package if the substance is found in hair dye products. A test has been carried out by the Council to test the ingredients of hair dye products.
The mentioned test was conducted according to China’s standard QB/T 1978-2004 ‘Hair dye products’ and ‘Regulations for hygienic condition of cosmetics (2007 edition)’ for light industry and the result was published in the latest issue of Consumer Report. All 10 samples of hair dye products tested were bought from local stores, testing result showed that no PPD was found in 3 of the samples but compounds of PPD were labeled in the package, 1 sample was found to have PPD but only compounds of PPD were labeled as an ingredient. Many countries and regions have requested the labeling of PPD on the package as PPD is prone to contact dermatitis, manufacturers have been asked by Consumer Council to improve the product package to include PPD as an ingredient to safeguard the safety of consumers.
Consumers are advised to conduct skin allergic test before dyeing hair and wear protective tools according to instructions, moreover, hair dyeing should not be carried out too often to minimize the damages caused to hair.
The latest issue no. 231 of Consumer Report also features recent activities of the Council, including its delegation’s visit to Consumers International Office for Asia-Pacific & the Middle East and other consumer protection organizations in Malaysia.
Consumers International (CI) is an independent, non-profit global organization aiming at bringing up policies and suggestions to protect consumers and promote consumer protection work. There are currently over 220 consumer groups from over 115 countries and regions worldwide as CI’s official and unofficial members and the Office for Asia-Pacific & the Middle East is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Macao Consumer Council has been actively participating in CI’s consumer protection work since its joining as an official member in 1997, since then, the Council has been getting information about global consumer protection work from CI and disseminating them to local consumers. The Consumer Council delegation visited the Office for Asia-Pacific & the Middle East to further inquire about policies concerning the least favoured consumers. Further, as the number of Macao citizens traveling to Malaysia and inbound tourists from Malaysia keeps on increasing in recent years, the importance of safeguarding the rights of consumers in both regions was discussed between the Council and various consumer groups in Malaysia. The Council and the concerned organizations discussed and exchanged ideas on how to improve solutions to consumer disputes, consumer education, and enhancement on interchanging information between the two regions. The Council also spent time to introduce the mechanism of ‘Certified Shop’.
The current issue also features the ‘Code of Practice’ for furniture retail industry and other information released by the 22 city-alliance of consumer organizations in mainland China. Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the office of Consumer Council (Rua Inácio Baptista, Nº 6-6A Edficio Seaview Garden R/C), and the service counter of Consumer Council at Macao SAR Government Service Centre (Rua Nova da Areia Preta, Nº52), Public Information Centre at Vicky Plaza, libraries and bookstores. Consumers may also access the resources online on the Council’s official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo). For enquiries, please call 8988 9315.
