Men’s grooming brand, Uppercut Deluxe, has scored a breakthrough for Australian cosmetics exports to Israel.
In early 2022, Austrade advisers in Israel helped the cosmetics brand gain local product registration, via an official Embassy letter of support. An importer immediately placed a large order.
Uppercut Deluxe is now exporting products including beard oil and hair pomade to Israel.
This indicates a viable market for Australian cosmetics and beauty products in Israel.
The Uppercut Deluxe brand is a range of men’s products that uses 1950s barber shop styling. The company is already an exporter, including to France, Germany and the UK. However, regulatory barriers prevented exports to another fast-growing cosmetics market in the region – Israel.
‘Israeli cosmetics regulations require GMP [Good Manufacturing Practices] certification from the country of origin,’ says Michael Platt, Director of the Austrade Israel team. ‘However, Australia does not officially require or recognise GMP for cosmetics in Australia, so there was no clear way to register Uppercut Deluxe products.’
Austrade Israel worked with the Israeli Ministry of Health to devise a solution.
In the absence of GMP recognition, Austrade identified the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) as a route to registration. This is the agency within the Australian Department of Health responsible for regulating chemical ingredients in cosmetics and skin care products.
This initiative resulted in an official Embassy letter of support. The letter explained that the product manufacturers were appropriately registered with AICIS. The letter also confirmed that Uppercut products were manufactured according to GMP standards based on appropriate third-party GMP certification and were legally sold in Australia.
‘Austrade assisted us with finding the right certification and assurance on the documentation that Israeli regulatory teams needed to certify the products,’ says Kiera Purcell, Founder and CEO, Uppercut Deluxe.
‘Austrade was a great resource for us as Israel compliance was more complex than other markets have been.’
Following its registration, the client received orders from a local importer almost immediately.
‘This is a watershed moment,’ says Platt. ‘Until now, it was a challenge to register Australian cosmetics products in Israel– and this was effectively a barrier to market entry.
‘The ability to get Uppercut Deluxe registered creates market potential for other innovative Australian brands.’
Since Uppercut’s success, a handful of Australian cosmetics companies have followed suit and pursued registration in Israel through a similar letter of support from the Australian Embassy.
According to the Austrade Israel team, this reflects interest on the part of local importers to bring unique high-quality value-added brands to the market.
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