On Nov. 22, 2021, Tmall Global, China's major cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) platform, released "Interpretations for False Advertising in the Healthcare Sector", which mainly targets the imported health supplement, in order to further crack down the violations and regulate chaos in the imported health supplement industry. Once the product information is regard as false advertising, the product information will be removed from the platform. In serious cases, Tmall Global may remove the product page and return the product. ChemLinked extracted five typical false advertising that stakeholders should avoid.
1. Non-Drugs or Non-Medical Devices to Claim Medical Efficacy
Other than drugs and medical devices, products like health supplements and nutrition products are forbidden to claim the efficacy of treating/preventing/alleviating various diseases, such as treatment of endometritis, prevention of cancer, alleviation of three highs, anti-aging, etc.
A non-drug product claiming the reduction of blood pressure
2. Endorsement from Government Organization, Professional Institutions or Individuals
When advertising products, it is prohibited to use and display the names and images of state organs or their institutions, medical institutions, academic institutions, or industrial organizations, or use and display the names and images of experts, medical personnel and consumers to prove the efficacy of products.
An imported product using consumers'comments for efficacy endorsement
A health supplement product using expert's name and image for efficacy endorsement
3. Unregistered Health Food to Claim Health Functions
In China, only registered health food can claim health functions, therefore, if imported health supplement product hasn't finished the registration with China State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), it shall be regarded as ordinary food and can’t claim any of the specified 27 health functions when advertising, such as immunity enhancement, memory improvement, sleep aid, asthenopia relief, etc. Besides, it is also prohibited to claim the efficacy of treating diseases, or to guarantee the efficacy, such as "one bottle works well".
An unregistered health food product claiming to relieve asthenopia
4. Vulgar or Inappropriate Images or Descriptions
According to Advertising Law, advertisements shall be expressed in a true, lawful and healthy way. On Tmall Global, this kind of violations mostly occurred in health supplement for male sexual health. Forbidden items include images and descriptions showing nude, genital organs, sex positions, etc.
A health supplement product for male using an image of private body part in advertising
5. Malicious Derogation towards Competitors
To ensure fair competition and maintain positive business environment, advertisements with malicious derogation towards other competitors are unacceptable on Tmall Global. It is noteworthy that even such behavior targeting anonymous competitors is regarded as the violation, since there’s no evidence to support the authenticity of the anonymous competitor information.
A product promoting itself by malicious comparisonNote: Any behavior attempting to dodge the violations mentioned above, such as hiding the problematic part, using Chinese/English alphabet, traditional Chinese characters, or Chinese homonym for cover, will risk heavier punishments.
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