Hong Kong Trade Descriptions Ordinance and Cosmetics Claims

Under the Hong Kong Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362)¹, cosmetics claims about ingredients, performance, testing or origin must be true; Customs enforces it.

A second law, the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (Cap. 231)², restricts advertising that promotes medicines or treatments for listed diseases, including diseases of the skin, hair or scalp, and is enforced by the Department of Health. In short: whitening or anti-wrinkle wording needs evidence, and nothing should read like a treatment for a disease.

Use the six steps below when you adapt Korean product copy for a Hong Kong online shop, shelf talker or social post. The points come from the ordinance texts.

Step 1: Collect every claim you will publish

Section 2 of Cap. 231 defines an advertisement broadly: any notice, poster, circular, label, wrapper or document, and any announcement made orally or by light or sound. Product labels, product pages, video ads and in-store signs are all covered. Put the Korean original, the English copy and the Chinese copy side by side and check they say the same thing.

Step 2: Check that ingredient, performance and origin claims are supported

Under section 2 of Cap. 362, a trade description includes composition, fitness for purpose, strength, performance or behaviour, testing and its results, place and date of manufacture, and the manufacturer.

Section 7 makes it an offence, in the course of trade, to apply a false trade description to goods or to supply or keep for sale goods that carry one. Part 2B, added in 2012, also bans unfair practices such as misleading omissions (section 13E), aggressive commercial practices (13F) and bait advertising (13G).

So “clinically proven” needs real test data behind it, and “made in Korea” needs Korea to be the actual place of manufacture.

Step 3: Avoid treatment claims for skin conditions

Section 3 of Cap. 231 prohibits publishing any advertisement likely to lead to the use of a medicine, surgical appliance or treatment to treat or prevent a disease listed in Schedule 1. Item 14 of Schedule 1 is “any disease of the skin, hair or scalp”.

The schedule then lists permitted purposes, such as preventing or treating dandruff with external applications, preventing pimples, external treatment of pimples, eczema and skin allergies, protective external applications against contact dermatitis and sunburn, and relief or prevention of common minor skin conditions such as dry and chapped skin.

Copy such as “cures eczema” or “treats hair loss” is therefore out. Even inside the permitted purposes, keep the wording to what a cosmetic actually does.

Step 4: Rework whitening and anti-ageing language

Schedule 2 of Cap. 231 prohibits advertising any medicine, surgical appliance or treatment for “the restoration of lost youth” or for “the correction of deformity or the surgical alteration of a person’s appearance”.

Phrases like “turns back the clock” or “surgery-like results” sit uncomfortably close to that. Describing the cosmetic experience, for example “smoother-looking skin” or “keeps skin moisturised”, is the safer route.

Step 5: Apply the same check to imported labels and translation stickers

Section 12 of Cap. 362 bans importing or exporting goods that carry a false trade description or a forged trade mark. If the original Korean label overstates what the product does, or a translation sticker adds claims that are not in the original, the problem starts at import. Translations should never go beyond the source text.

Step 6: Know the penalties and keep your evidence

According to Hong Kong Customs, an offence under Cap. 362 relating to trade descriptions on goods carries a fine of HKD 500,000 and five years’ imprisonment on indictment, or HKD 100,000 and two years on summary conviction. Under section 6 of Cap.

231, a first conviction carries a fine at level 5 and six months’ imprisonment, and a repeat offence under the same section a fine at level 6 and one year. Keep a file of the evidence behind each claim, such as test reports or brand documentation.

Sources

• Trade Descriptions Ordinance, Cap. 362: https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap362!en
• Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance, Cap. 231: https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap231!en
• Hong Kong Customs, trade descriptions: https://www.customs.gov.hk/en/service-enforcement-information/consumer-protection/trade-desc/index.html

Related reading: Hong Kong cosmetics labelling · How to import cosmetics into Hong Kong · Selling Korean skincare online in Hong Kong

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Notes

1. Hong Kong Department of Justice, Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362), verified 2026-10-25. ↩

2. Hong Kong Department of Justice, Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (Cap. 231), verified 2026-10-25. ↩