Hong Kong Consumer Council has completed drafting the "Beauty Industry Code of Practice," Secretary for Economic Development & Labor Stephen Ip said on Wednesday.

She added the code covers areas such as service quality, complaint handling and pre-payment for services.

Ip told lawmakers at a Legislative Council meeting that the council has consulted the trade and acted as the convenor of the task force responsible for the drafting of the code. All 11 task force members are industry representatives.

Since the representatives have promised to promulgate and abideby the code, the council is confident it will help enhance the industry's service quality.

In 2005, the Department of Health did not receive any complaints concerning injuries caused by beauty or slimming-treatment programs. However, the council received 38 such complaints, of which 30 were related to beauty treatments while the rest were related to slimming treatments.

These cases involved allergy, pain and the appearance of marks on the skin after treatment.

Although there is no specific legislation governing the provision of slimming and beauty care services, consumers are protected by general consumer protection legislation including "Unconscionable Contracts," "Supply of Services (Implied Terms)," and "Sale of Goods Ordinances."

(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2006)