The apex drug regulatory agency has issued a public health alert against the use of two unauthorised ‘made in Pakistan’ cosmetic products being sold in India.Goree beauty cream and Chandni whitening cream have been identified by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) as being sold in India without registration certificates.Last year in May, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification prohibiting import of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan to India. This prohibits import of goods from Pakistan directly or through any other trade routes. Despite this the products were sold on several e-commerce platforms.CDSCO warned that the cosmetic products contain excessive heavy metals beyond the specified limits which may pose health risk to the consumers including toxic effects.“In light of the above unauthorised cosmetics products, consumers are advised — not to purchase above mentioned cosmetics products; not to use such and similar named cosmetic products if purchased,” the public advisory said.Drug Controller General of India Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi said to manufacture cosmetics for sale and distribution, a licence must be obtained from the state licensing authority. “For the import of cosmetics, the products must be registered with Central Licensing Authority in accordance with the prescribed rules. The CDSCO through test and analysis has verified that cosmetic products are unauthorised and have not been issued registration certificate for import by the competent authority for sale in lndia,” he said.CDSCO asked the public to purchase and use authorised cosmetics products containing details of manufacturing licence number, manufacturer’s details, batch number, date of manufacturing and expiry, and registration number (in case of imported cosmetics).In 2021, New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority had issued an alert stating that Goree cream contains mercury and lead, which will have toxic impact on nervous, digestive and immune systems.