COLORED contact lenses of inferior quality remained on sale in many shops in the city, in particular at the busy shopping areas of Dongmen and Huaqiangbei, despite a national regulation that forbids unlicensed medical device businesses being implemented June 1, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

    There will be at least a 50,000 yuan (US$8,196) penalty given to business operators who sell the lenses without medical device business licenses.

    A boutique shop owner in Dongmen introduced some contact lenses to a few female clients, claiming that the products were quality-ensured brands from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, and that they would last for a full year. Prices for the contact lenses was low, though: from 50 to 60 yuan per pair.

    The shop provided no optometry services for nearsighted clients and the shop owner said clients can choose their own lenses, falsely claiming that astigamatic eyes can improve vision.

    A number of street vendors selling beauty products in the area were also selling colored contact lenses, most of which were labeled as Japanese or Korean with prices ranging from 30 to 60 yuan a pair. Young girls were frequent guests of these vendors, the Daily said.

    Shop owners in Huaqiangbei showed greater caution in selling the lenses. Some shops had only a few samples and pictures on display, and clients would be served only after deals were confirmed because the shop owners seldom kept inventory inside the shop.

    A shop owner said she sold colored contact lenses as a side business and wasn’t aware of the illegality and associated penalties.(Anna Zhao)

    An insider in the trade said there were about 20 legitimate colored contact lens brands and most colored contact lenses sold in unlicensed shops were fake products manufactured by illegal factories, especially those sold online or at beauty shops.

    Min Guoguan, chairman of Shenzhen Glasses Society, said standard colored contact lenses should have three layers of membranes, with the colored layer in the middle. According to Min, most fake products have only two layers or a single layer, which makes it highly possible to cause damage to eyes. Min said Shenzhen has about 440 optical shops, but only about 140 are licensed to sell contact lenses.

    Min warned users to take great care when they select colored contact lenses because those of inferior quality may bring damage to users’ corneas and lead to vision impairment.