Trade barriers
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
U.S. will press Korea until concerns over "barriers to entry and distribution of cosmetics are fully and satisfactorily addressed," U.S. Trade Representative says in 2001 Trade Policy Agenda. Impediments to cosmetic trade in Korea have included redundant testing, extensive reporting and tracking requirements, animal toxicity testing needs and authority of domestic trade association to screen advertising and brochures, USTR says. Although some testing requirements were eliminated in 1998 and 2000, additional impediments remain. In China, Ministry of Health further tightened conformity assessment procedures for imported cosmetics products and required expensive testing procedures in 2000, USTR notes in 2001 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. Conformity assessment and registration takes up to year to complete and "represents the de facto creation of a new import barrier," report says