Latvia's Health Inspectorate banned 59 cosmetic products last year; some contained banned substances

The Health Inspectorate (VI) conducted extensive cosmetic product checks last year, discovering that 82% (260 out of 321) of online offers were non-compliant. A total of 1,182 products from 148 companies were inspected; 705 met requirements, while 418 had correctable deficiencies. Serious violations led to a sales ban for 59 products.

Online listings often lacked mandatory information in Latvian about the responsible person, product identification, and safety warnings. 77 cases involved non-compliant advertising claims. The most serious violations included 24 products containing EU-banned substances, 10 expired products, 8 with missing or incomplete safety reports, and 5 without a batch number.

Among 15 local manufacturers, only three fully complied with good manufacturing practices; three had critical violations affecting product safety. Laboratory microbiological tests on 25 products found one non-compliant. SPF tests on six sunscreens showed two failed to meet their labeled protection level.

As part of an EU initiative, VI inspected 19 shipments and 37 products from platforms like Temu, Shein, AliExpress, and Amazon, preventing 34 potentially dangerous items from reaching consumers. Through the EU's Safety Gate system, 1,227 notifications were reviewed, 712 related to cosmetics. VI sent 30 informational letters to businesses. Additionally, 24 free trade certificates were issued for 593 exported cosmetic products.