Crackdown planned on toxic cosmetic products

Islamabad: The government has planned to crack down on production, marketing and sale of toxic cosmetic products, especially skin whitening creams, after December. The initiative comes over complaints about the use of mercury in beauty creams and the skin problems caused by them among women.

According to state minister for climate change Zartaj Gul, the ministry will hold a workshop to be attended by skin experts and CEOs of the national and international brands to advocate the phasing out of mercury from cosmetic products before the imposition of a ban on marketing of those products.

She said the government had no plan to close down the cosmetic industry and instead, it had planned the elimination of toxic cosmetic products from the market on one hand and protection of the industry on the other.