A major regulatory crackdown on Türkiye’s cosmetics market has resulted in over 15 million liras in fines, after health authorities discovered that nearly half of the audited beauty and biocidal products failed to meet safety standards.
The Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (TİTCK) recently inspected 95 beauty products and flagged 50 for regulatory failures. Technical violations were found in 46 of those items, while four posed direct health risks, leading to 11.75 million liras in administrative fines.
Inspectors also targeted unregulated biocidal products, such as hand sanitizers and antibacterial soaps. Of the 31 items examined, officials recalled and destroyed eight that posed severe health hazards, along with 11 other non-compliant products. This action resulted in an additional 3.35 million liras in administrative fines.
The findings point to a serious public health crisis fueled by illicit production, said Nurten Saydan, head of the All Pharmacist Employers’ Union.
Consumers must remain exceptionally vigilant against counterfeit items peddled on social media and unregulated websites, Saydan added.
