On 22 December, French Customs announced the seizure of 12,500 non-compliant and dangerous cosmetic products from China by customs officers in Le Havre. Among the non-conformities found, the presence of Cyclomethicone, a banned substance likely to harm fertility and harmful for the environment.
On 19 November 2021, officers from the Port of Le Havre office, on the advice of their colleagues from the CELTICS unit for combating illicit trafficking in containers, carried out an inspection of a shipment from China, destined for an importer in the Paris region.
The goods declared as “hair preparations” involved a total of 12,549 hair products, moisturising hair milk lotions, repairing masks and detangling conditioners.
The imprecise declarations and the nature of the goods prompted the customs officers to carry out a physical check of the goods and then to take samples to verify their conformity.
Analyses by the joint laboratory service in Lyon confirmed the following for the three references checked
• The absence of any reference to the origin on all the products
• The reference to a closed establishment for the importer’s address for the hair milk
• The presence of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (INCI: Cyclomethicone), a prohibited substance (by-product of elastomers likely to harm fertility and harmful to the environment) in the repairing face masks
As these non-conformities were found on all the imported batches contrary to the provisions of EC Regulation 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, the officers proceeded to seize the 12,549 products, which were …
