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Wednesday, 25 May 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Hiruni Dabarera
“There is no responsible authority to certify beauty products in both import and export markets in Sri Lanka and all products in the market are unregistered and bear no certificate to assure the customers of their hygiene and safety,” asserted Nature’s Secrets Chairman Samantha Kumarasinghe, speaking to Daily FT.
According to him, any retailer can introduce a new cosmetic product to the market without meeting Government regulations and despite several attempts at informing the Health Ministry, the problem still remains unanswered.
“When exporting to the global market cosmetic products require the ‘Free-Sale Certificate’. The Cosmetic Drugs and Devices Authority (CDDA) earlier granted this certification but now there is no party to authorise cosmetic products in Sri Lanka. About a year before the responsibility of certifying was transferred to the National Medical Regulatory Association. But they have failed to execute this certification. Thusthis has also affected our exports,” the Chairman further revealed.
Established in 2001 Nature’s Secrets is an organisation that is committed towards social welfare.
During the latter part of this year Nature’s Secrets is hoping to introduce a high-end cosmetic brand to the local market. The Chairman says the distribution for this brand will be different from their ordinary distributorship (not through retailers but agents).
Currently, it holds distributorship in over 50 countries, namely, Singapore, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Germany, etc. Its vision is to become the premier cosmetic brand in Sri Lanka by 2020.
Nature’s Secrets is the only cosmetic brand in Sri Lanka to be accredited by the European GMP Certificate and International ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. They are also reputed for using natural raw materials in their products. At present they have aherbal garden with over 50 species, grown and maintained around their production factory. This organisation is also the only private corporation in Sri Lanka to build a research and development centre to test herbal plants that are used in their products.
Nature’s Secret last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) for a fresh program.
Its partnership with the VTA since 2005 has benefitted students to become professionals in the beauty culture industry. They provide free resources to trainees every year amounting to one million and recently sponsored 30 instructors to participate at a workshop held in Thailand.
This organisation also holds workshops and programs island-wide to help youth enter the beauty-culture field, to start up their own businesses with sound knowledge and practicality.
“Last year we had 185 students learning beauty-culture at the Vocational Training Institute. In addition to providing practical experience to students, Nature’s Secrets also educate them on proper money management and how to become successful entrepreneurs,” stated Vocational Training Authority Chairman Gamini Hettiarachchi.
