An amendment to Turkey’s cosmetics legislation that requires all products to carry a barcode is placing a disproportionate financial burden on small businesses, according to a report published by Chemical Watch.  

The legislation, which came into force in March this year, imposes a mandatory online notification system based on product barcodes. The regulation is designed to improve safety standards and reduce counterfeit and under-the-counter products.

“There are many firms in the domestic market that operate under the counter and it’s proving difficult to control them,” Burak Ayan, Regulatory Affairs Consultant at Ayansan Chemicals Consultancy, told Chemical Watch. “For legitimate SMEs that do not have barcodes, it will be an extra financial burden.”