SK-II issued a statement saying it decided to suspend sales of its products in China

SK-II announced on the 22nd that it temporarily withdrew from the Chinese market. At 7:30 am on the 22nd, SK-II issued a statement to the media by mail and fax that it had decided to suspend sales of its products in China and temporarily suspended the operation of SK-II counters.

SK-II stated in its statement: "Although SK-II believes that its products are safe, it still makes this decision until it is confirmed that we are in compliance with China's regulations on the trace chromium and antimony contained in cosmetics sold."

SK-II statement

â–  Exit is due to "policy incidents"

SK-II stated in the statement that SK-II had made serious public security incidents in some areas of SK-II counters and contacted local public security agencies to make this decision.

The reporter contacted Liang Yun, manager of the external relations department of Procter & Gamble Company yesterday. Liang Yun said that the company's decision to temporarily withdraw from the Chinese market was not due to some local authorities forcing SK-II to withdraw the cabinet, but for "policy issues." She said that there have been "conflict incidents" with counters in some areas of the country recently, and the personal safety of customers and beauty consultants cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, it has decided to suspend the sales of products in China.

â–  Still insists on its product safety

For the day before the national quality inspection department detected the existence of banned substances chromium and ytterbium in SK-II products, Liang Yun said yesterday that "SK-II products are safe from beginning to end."

Stressed that the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has detected that trace amounts of chromium and cesium contained in SK-II products are ubiquitous in nature. Chromium and barium are found in water, rice, minerals, and various vitamins that people touch in their daily lives. Therefore, if traces of chromium and cesium are included in the cosmetic raw materials, the residuals of these two substances may be detected in the finished product. Therefore, the presence of trace amounts of chromium and niobium is allowed in the safety standards of the international cosmetics industry.

“Furthermore, as a raw material for certain cosmetics, lead does have the effect of skin whitening. Chromium and germanium have no value for cosmetics. Why do we have to spend money to deliberately add these two substances?”

Liang Yun said that "contain" and "minor residue" are completely different concepts. Therefore, although the General Administration of Quality Supervision announced that the trace amounts of residual chromium and niobium in SK-II, "this result does not affect the quality and safety of SK-II products."

â–  "Suspension period" depends on negotiation

SK-II stated in a statement yesterday that SK-II's return service center in China will temporarily suspend operations from September 22, 2006. The effective refund request accepted before September 21, 2006 will be paid to the consumer according to the agreed agreement. From now on, the 24-hour service hotline will be used to handle consumer refund requests. Previously, refunds to consumers were based on the principle of good faith. The SK-II service hotline is 800-8305562.

Since SK-II stated in the statement that it was a "suspend", the reporter asked when the "suspend" will continue until there is a possibility of a permanent withdrawal from the Chinese market. Liang Yun replied that P & G has no specific goals and plans for this. , everything depends on the results of the communication with the relevant government departments.

â– Beauty consultants will be arranged for paid rest

After the “Suspend Product Sales in China”, will SK-II employees be affected? Liang Yun explained to reporters yesterday that after the company made this decision, more than 400 beauty consultants from SK-II counters across the country would first be paid for rest because they “worked too tired these days.” However, P & G's internal structure and employees will not change.

Event progress

On September 14, nine types of Japanese SK-II brand entry cosmetics were found to be banned.

On the morning of September 15, SK-II issued a public statement stating that SK-II products did not add relevant banned ingredients during the production process.

On the evening of September 15, SK-II issued a statement again, saying that consumers can handle the return of related products.

September 16, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places have set off a wave of returns. Some shopping malls in Beijing have stopped selling SK-II products.

September 18th General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine: If there are any problems with SK-II related products, import will be suspended.

On September 21, the SK-II brand had 3 other cosmetics that detected banned substances in Shanghai.

On September 22, SK-II issued a statement deciding to suspend sales of its products in China and temporarily stop the operation of SK-II counters.

On September 22, SK-II exposed three problems again. The regulatory authorities summoned the person in charge of P&G.