Consumer products in Dubai to undergo stricter checks

DUBAI — A recent survey has prompted the Dubai Municipality to seek stricter checks for consumer products after several were found to be hazardous to human health.

Asma Ali Zain

Published: Tue 6 Apr 2010, 10:42 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 10:46 AM

According to a municipality official, the registration and testing procedure may soon change for all cosmetic products and health supplements.

The new system will require companies to register the product with the municipality before it enters Dubai, thereby cutting testing costs currently being borne by the municipality.

“Companies will have to meet certain criteria and the products will have to undergo stringent checks before we register them and allow them into the market,” said Naseem Mohammed Abdullah, Acting Head of Consumer Products Safety Section at the municipality.

Presenting safety details of the product through an internationally accredited laboratory will be among the requirements. “Testing all products locally before allowing them into the market is very expensive for the municipality,” she said while speaking to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the second e-Health annual conference on Monday. Naseem also said the municipality was looking at ways to curb the entry of such products in coordination with Dubai Customs.

The survey that prompted the need for change tested sample products including toothpastes, facemasks, whitening creams, perfumes among others and found they contained chemicals either banned or above the permissible limit set by the municipality.

“There is no doubt that these daily use products are highly related to human health as there are 1001 chemicals in their ingredients that maybe harmful to health,” she explained.

“Our job is to control entry of such products in the market,” she said, adding that the municipality is formulating policies to this effect.

The municipality survey found that lead, chromium and arsenic constituted 30, 20 and 25 per cents respectively of the 3,000 products tested. Other contaminants were alcohol, mercury and hydrogen peroxide.

“These products were totally banned as they are not safe to use,” she said. Lead was the leading contaminant in most products and was being used in products such as kohl, surma, kajal imported from India and Pakistan. In total, 30 per cent of the products failed the municipality survey.

She also said the municipality would focus on inspection and random testing in coordination with companies, factories, and distributors.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com