Claims made to promote anti-ageing creams may be more closely scrutinised in New Zealand after an order across the Tasman for big beauty industry names to pull their ads.
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration ruled ads for certain products - including some by Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, Lancome and
Clinique - must be withdrawn.
It found that despite the products being been deemed cosmetics, the ads suggested they had "therapeutic" uses.
Several ads made claims about boosting the production of collagen, known as a wrinkle filler.
The Estee Lauder Perfectionist CP+ Correcting Serum ad claimed the product would help skin "amplify its natural collagen production".
Among the other ads ruled on were those for high-profile names Lancome High Resolution Collaser, Clinique Turnaround Visible Renewer and L'Oreal ReNoviste.
Australian advertising is governed by tighter rules than New Zealand's.
But the Commerce Commission's fair trading branch director, Deborah Battell, said the commission would assess the matter in New Zealand.
The commission has previously investigated the sector. Its complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority in 2004 about a L'Oreal Paris Dermo-Expertise Wrinkle Decrease ad was upheld.
That ruling - which was the most recent one by the authority on an anti-ageing product - said the ad gave the impression claims made were clinically proven through scientific tests but they were actually based on consumer evaluations.
MedSafe also has the ability to rule on complaints about products making medical claims.
Estee Lauder Group general manager Marie-Ann Billens said ads for the Estee Lauder and Clinique products it distributed met rigorous international standards.
"Australia has different regulations due to its therapeutic authority."
The ad ran to coincide with the product launch but had not run since and there had been no complaints about it locally, she said.
Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association of New Zealand executive director Garth Wyllie said Australia was out of step with the rest of the world. It had prescriptive advertising claims guidelines that required products labelled and packaged internationally to be redone for that market.
He said the cosmetics industry was opposed to stricter rules applying in New Zealand, possible under proposed joint authority for therapeutic products.
