K-beauty growth without guardrails? Rising recalls trigger tighter oversight

South Korean beauty exports are growing at record speed, but the country has announced that cosmetic recalls have tripled over the last year, and the government has consequently pledged to implement stricter testing. The spike in recalls and tougher testing regime raises the question of whether K-beauty is expanding too fast.

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) recorded 16 K-beauty recalls and disposals in 2025, marking a 3.2-fold increase from five cases the year before.

The ministry says the surge in recalls reflects stronger oversight rather than a sudden collapse in product quality. As more intense testing exposes compliance weaknesses, the MFDS will expand its cosmetics rules through 2028 with a system requiring compulsory safety reporting.

Vietnam, meanwhile, recently ordered a nationwide recall and destruction of six imported K-beauty products over documentation and formula violations.

Amid the surge in recalls, Brazil today signed new agreements with South Korea to make K-beauty products more accessible to Brazilian consumers. The move comes as Korean beauty brands have been doubling down on their global expansion. The country’s cosmetic exports reached a record US$11.4 billion in 2025, up 12.3% from the 2024 record.

While K-beauty edges closer to the industry dominance traditionally held by legacy beauty markets such as France, its continued rise may hinge on whether Korea’s quality systems can match its global ambitions.

“Considering the strengthening of global quality competitiveness and the safe use of cosmetics by the public, we will continue to ramp up cosmetics collection and testing,” says Shin Jun-su, director general of the Biopharmaceuticals and Herbal Medicine Bureau at MFDS.

Recall ripple effect

The MFDS increased its annual sampling and cosmetics inspections last year from a few hundred cases to around 2,000 amid rising global demand for K-beauty products. It attributes the tripled figure of violations to these ramped-up tests. 

K-beauty’s export growth is placing greater pressure on its quality control and regulatory systems.The agency says partial product spoilage accounted for eight of the 16 cases, making it the most common violation. Authorities also detected the use of banned colorants in cosmetics and found cases in which beauty companies tampered with product packaging expiration dates.

The most common violation in 2024, with four cases, was exceeding microbial limit standards. In 2025, this violation fell to one case.

Shin says the government will continue to increase its cosmetic reviews and testing to strengthen K-beauty’s quality competitiveness and ensure the products Korea exports are safe for the global public to use. As part of these compliance measures, the authorities will introduce a new system requiring compulsory safety reporting.

“We will prepare to gradually implement from 2028 the cosmetics safety assessment system, under which companies must prepare and retain safety assessment reports,” Shin says.

Paper problems

The announcement of South Korea’s safety compliance crackdown follows closely on Vietnam’s nationwide recall and destruction of six imported K-beauty products.

The country’s Drug Administration found documentation gaps and formula violations in Korean-made cosmetics marketed and distributed by Trinh My. The products had incomplete product information files, and their formulas did not match the product documents that Trinh My had submitted for approval.

Vietnam’s Drug Administration instructed provincial and municipal health departments to immediately cease the distribution of products found to be in violation. The respective health departments are now organizing the recalls, investigating the violations, and enforcing penalties.

Trinh My has subsequently been ordered to notify its entire distribution network, retrieve and destroy the products, and submit a recall report before March 5.

Brazilian consumers will gain broader access to K-beauty products through the new agreement.This round of recalls is not the first time Trinh My has been found in breach of the country’s cosmetic rules. Vietnam’s Department of Health previously fined the Korean company for distributing cosmetics without sufficient documentation and for using unapproved formulas that differed from declared content.

Southside expansion

While Vietnam shaves off some K-beauty products from its shelves, Brazil and South Korea are establishing agreements to open the door wider for Korean skin care across Latin America.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung signed agreements in Seoul today to strengthen business cooperation and improve regulatory alignment between the two countries.

The countries have announced increased cooperation between their respective health sectors, aiming to ease regulatory barriers for K-beauty exports to Brazil.

Lee says K-beauty products “will become even more accessible to Brazilian consumers” under the new agreement.

According to Lee, annual trade between South Korea and Brazil exceeds US$10 billion. The South Korean MFDS’s export data further shows that Brazil is one of K-beauty’s fastest-growing export markets, reaching a 115.1% growth rate in 2025 from 2024.

In the meantime, Brazil is fine-tuning its personal care regulations, having established consultations, substance bans, and tighter amendment rules. While K-beauty’s global momentum is clear, its sustainability may depend on its regulatory discipline.