Legal consequences of announcing cosmetic products in contravention of regulations

The cosmetics industry in Vietnam has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years, with the participation of both local businesses and international brands. However, this development also entails regulatory challenges, especially in complying with regulations on quality management and product disclosures. The announcement of a product is a mandatory legal procedure, not only for the purpose of controlling the quality of the product before putting it on the market, but also as a basis for the competent state agency to conduct an inspection after the product has been circulated.

The legal sanctions of misrepresenting cosmetics are not limited to the level of administrative sanctions but also include strict remedial measures and can lead to criminal liability depending on the severity and nature of the violation.

1. Legal framework for handling violations of cosmetic announcement

The legal framework for cosmetic management in Vietnam is being regulated by Circular No. 06/2011/TT-BYT dated 25/01/2011 of the Ministry of Health, amended and supplemented by Circular 34/2025/TT-BYT dated 03/07/2025 of the Ministry of Health. Administrative sanctions are specified in detail in the Government's Decree No. 117/2020/ND-CP dated September 28, 2020 and criminal sanctions are specified in the Criminal Law 2015, amended in 2017.

The core legal foundation is Circular No. 06/2011/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health, issued on January 25, 2011, detailing procedures, records and responsibilities related to the announcement of cosmetic products. These regulations have been adjusted and supplemented to suit changes in practice. Most recently, Circular 34/2025/TT-BYT has amended and supplemented a number of articles of Circular 06/2011/TT-BYT, especially the adjustment of cosmetic product declaration dossiers in the direction of modernization, allowing electronic submission of dossiers in addition to paper copies. This change simplifies administrative procedures, but also requires organizations and individuals to update and comply with the latest regulations to avoid violations.

Currently, the Government and the Ministry of Health are also collecting opinions to complete the development of a more effective legal framework to completely replace Circular 06 with the Decree on the management of Vietnamese cosmetic activities. This Decree is expected to be approved by the end of this year and take effect in early 2026, which will help management agencies more effectively and the business activities of cosmetic enterprises in Vietnam enter a new stage of development, approaching the standards of developed countries in the field of cosmetics such as Korea,  Japan, China,...

Administrative sanctions for violations related to cosmetics are mainly specified in the Government's Decree No. 117/2020/ND-CP dated September 28, 2020 regulating administrative sanctions in the field of health. This is the most important legal basis for management agencies to handle administrative violations of cosmetic declaration in Vietnam.

In addition, criminal sanctions, the most severe sanctions to handle this behavior. If the violation shows signs of constituting a crime, the violator may be prosecuted for penal liability for the crime of trading in counterfeit goods according to Article 192 of the Criminal Code. The crime of producing and trading counterfeit goods, especially counterfeit cosmetics, can be punished by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to billions of VND. The level of criminal handling depends on the value of the goods, the illicit profits obtained, and the serious consequences caused, such as harm to the health of consumers.

2. Typical violations in cosmetic declaration in Vietnam

According to the provisions of law, violations of cosmetic product announcement are classified according to severity and correspond to different levels of administrative sanctions. This creates a clear legal framework for the authorities to apply.

The most common violations are specified in Article 68, Decree 117/2020/ND-CP and can be classified into three main groups:

Acts related to declaration and change of information: These are violations at the lowest level in terms of form. These acts include improperly declaring the contents of the cosmetic product declaration sheet or changing the contents that have been announced and have been granted a receipt number but have not been approved in writing by the competent authority. These acts often arise due to carelessness in the process of completing the dossier or ignoring the necessary administrative procedures.  

Acts related to the unauthorized circulation of products: This is a more serious violation. This act occurs when an organization or individual puts a cosmetic product into circulation on the market without being issued a cosmetic product announcement number by a competent state agency or when the receipt number has expired.  

Acts related to dossier fraud: This is the most serious violation in the group of administrative sanctions, showing intentional fraud. These violations include forging documents, using fake seals, or forging signatures or seals of the authorities or of the manufacturer or owner of the product in the disclosure dossier.  

3. Handling of administrative violations

The fine levels for groups of acts in Section 2 above are specified as follows:

• A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of falsely declaring or changing the contents of the announcement without approval.
• A fine of between VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of putting the product into circulation without the receipt number of the announcement slip or when this number has expired.
• A fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed for forging documents, seals and signatures in the announcement dossier.

This is a fine for individuals, for businesses, the fine will be double corresponding to the violation of the individual.

Table 1: Classification of acts and administrative sanctions according to Decree 117/2020/ND-CP

In addition to fines, authorities also have the right to apply additional sanctions and remedial measures, in order to prevent recurrence of violations and protect the interests of consumers. These measures often cause financial and reputational damages far greater than the administrative fines themselves.

First of all, the competent authority has the right to request the enterprise to suspend business activities. This is a strict additional sanction. According to regulations, cosmetic business establishments may be suspended from operation for a period of 03 to 06 months if they violate acts such as putting products into circulation without being issued a receipt number of the announcement slip or falsifying documents. The suspension of operations not only causes loss of revenue during the suspension period, but also causes supply chain disruptions, loss of market share, and damage to relationships with partners.  

In addition, the management agency also applies remedial measures such as:

Forced recall and destruction of products: This is the most common and radical measure. The entire batch of infringing cosmetic products will be forced to be recalled and destroyed. For example, in an incident in Hanoi, 91,000 infringing cosmetic products were forcibly destroyed, along with the confiscation of production machinery such as date shooting machines and date stamping machines. The destruction of products is not only the loss of the value of the goods but also the cost of production, import and destruction, causing huge financial losses.  

Proposal to revoke the receipt number of the Announcement Form: This measure is applied to violations related to the announcement dossier, such as false declaration or forgery of documents.  

Forcible correction of information:  If the violation is related to false advertising or inconsistent with the published content, the authorities will force the violating organization or individual to cancel the advertisement and provide accurate information on the mass media.  

The application of these measures shows that the financial consequences of violations of cosmetic disclosure far exceed the fines written on paper. A business can face huge costs from the recall and destruction of goods, not to mention legal costs and loss of revenue due to the suspension of operations. Moreover, these behaviors will seriously reduce brand reputation, lose the trust of customers and partners, lead to long-term damage, difficult to quantify and may cause business bankruptcy. The confiscation of production equipment such as date shooting machines and date stamping machines in actual cases is a proof that the authorities focus on destroying counterfeit production activities, rather than merely sanctioning administrative violations.  thereby significantly increasing the cost of risk for violations.

4. Penal liability for serious violations

Although the majority of violations of cosmetic disclosure are administratively handled, acts that show signs of crime, especially related to the production and trading of counterfeit cosmetics, will be prosecuted for criminal liability. The main legal framework for these acts is the Criminal Code 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017, with the most important provision being Article 192 on "Crime of producing and trading counterfeit goods."

The crime of manufacturing and trading counterfeit goods is a serious crime, applicable to acts related to counterfeit cosmetics, including products with formulas that are not in accordance with the published documents, of unsatisfactory quality, or counterfeit trademarks. The penalty level is determined depending on the value of counterfeit goods, illicit profits obtained and the consequences caused by the act.

Specific penalty frames include:

• Basic penalty frame: A fine of between VND 100,000,000 and VND 1,000,000,000 or a prison term of between 01 and 05 years. This framework applies when counterfeit goods are valued from 20,000,000 VND to less than 100,000,000 VND, or cause damage to a person's health with a bodily injury rate of 31% to 60%.  
• Serious penalty frame: Imprisonment from 05 years to 10 years. Applicable to cases such as organized crimes, professional nature, or when counterfeit goods are valued at between VND 100,000,000 and less than VND 200,000,000, or cause damage to the health of a person with a bodily injury rate of 61% or more.  
• Particularly serious penalty frame: Imprisonment from 07 years to 15 years. Applicable when counterfeit goods are valued at VND 200,000,000 or more, causing great damage to property (VND 1,500,000,000 or more) or causing death.  

In addition, the law also provides for additional penalties. Offenders may be fined from VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000, banned from holding certain positions, practicing certain professions or doing certain jobs for a period of between 01 and 05 years, or having part or all of their assets confiscated. For the act of producing and trading counterfeit cosmetics, the fine level can be doubled compared to the ordinary fine level.

The line between administrative violations and criminal offenses is not always clear. An act such as "producing cosmetics with a formula that is not in accordance with the published dossier" may initially only be administratively handled. However, if that wrong formula leads to a poor-quality, unsafe product, causing harm to the health of consumers, or if this act is carried out on a large scale, with high illicit profits, it will be transferred to criminal handling. The confiscation of production equipment such as date shooters and date stampers in the Hanoi incident is evidence that the authorities are focusing on destroying counterfeit production activities, rather than merely administratively sanctioning.

5. Practices of handling violations by functional agencies

The practice of applying the law in Vietnam shows that the authorities are increasingly drastic in handling violations in the cosmetics industry, especially acts related to illegal announcement, production and trading of counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin.

In the first 6 months of 2025, the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City has inspected and sanctioned 35 violating organizations in the field of cosmetics with a total amount of more than 2.6 billion VND. Common violations detected include manufacturing products with improper formulas, poor quality cosmetics, lack of certificates of eligibility for production, illegal circulation of products and advertising violations[1].  

In recent times, the Drug Administration has issued many decisions to sanction administrative violations against violating companies, for example, on August 8, 2025, the Drug Administration has issued a decision to sanction administrative violations of Phu Thai Health and Beauty Care Joint Stock Company with a fine of VND 75 million and with remedial measures is to force the destruction of all 16 cosmetic products[2]. The management agencies also regularly publish a list of violating establishments and warn about acts such as announcing, advertising, and producing cosmetics with ingredients that are not in accordance with the Declaration Sheet.  

These real-life cases show that law enforcement does not stop at fines but also applies radical measures such as confiscation of production facilities and destruction of goods. This significantly increases the cost of risk for violations. Practice shows that violating regulations on cosmetic disclosure is not a small problem but a serious business risk. Businesses need to consider legal compliance as a strategic investment to protect their assets and brand reputation.

6. Some recommendations for cosmetic businesses

The illegal announcement of cosmetics has many potential multi-dimensional risks, not only in terms of legality but also affecting the entire business. From financial risks, legal risks (for both enterprises and individuals, legal representatives of the company) and especially risks to the business reputation of enterprises. A type of risk that businesses have to bear very heavy consequences throughout the business process. Therefore, to minimize the above risks, organizations and individuals operating in the cosmetics industry need to implement the following recommendations:

• Master legal regulations: Regularly update and master the latest legal documents on cosmetics management, including circulars, decrees and consolidated documents.  
• Develop a strict disclosure process: Ensure that the product declaration dossier is complete and accurate, do not declare falsely or falsify information. An internal cross-check process is required before submitting the application.  
• After-sales quality control: Establish an internal quality management system to ensure that products circulating in the market are always in accordance with published records. This helps to detect and correct errors before they are inspected by the authorities.  
• Cooperation with experts: Using specialized legal consulting services to assist in product announcements and legal risk assessments in the business process is something that cosmetics businesses need to consider in this period as well as in the future.
• Transparency in business: Always keep all invoices and documents proving the origin of products, especially for imported products.  

The legal consequences of misrepresenting cosmetic products are not limited to fines but also include intangible and tangible damages such as loss of brand reputation, business suspension, and personal risk. Therefore, strict compliance with the law is not a burden but a vital factor to ensure the sustainable development of businesses. Investing in legal compliance, quality control, and business transparency is the best way to protect your business, assets, and reputation in the competitive cosmetics industry.