Overseas Seeding: Check This Before You Ship

Seeding Is Advertising Too

Seeding means sending products free of charge to influencers and waiting for organic reviews. Since no money changes hands, it’s easy to assume it isn’t advertising — but many countries treat free products as “material compensation.”

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sets the standard. The FTC’s guide for influencers says that if you received a free or discounted product, you must disclose that relationship even if the brand didn’t ask you to mention it. Clear terms such as “ad” or “sponsored” must appear in the post itself; burying them among hashtags or behind “more” is not enough. For videos, the FTC advises disclosing within the video itself, both verbally and in on-screen text, rather than in the description. The FTC also revised its Endorsement Guides in June 2023.

Japan has regulated “stealth marketing (ステマ)” as a violation of the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations since October 1, 2023. The rules target posts that are advertising but conceal that fact, and liability rests with the advertiser, not the influencer. Posts are expected to include labels such as “広告,” “PR” or “プロモーション,” or a sentence such as “Product provided by Company A.” Products sent by overseas brands to Japanese creators are unlikely to be treated as exceptions.

Korea is moving in the same direction. Revisions to the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s “Guidelines on Endorsements and Testimonials” in December 2024 require disclosures in blog posts to appear in the title or opening, and also require disclosure of compensation received later or subject to conditions, such as sales-link commissions. If your campaigns already meet Korean standards, the starting point overseas is the same.

Can the Product Enter That Country?

However good the reviews, seeding backfires if the product cannot legally be sold in that country. Taking cosmetics as an example, the bar differs by country.

In the US, the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) was enacted in December 2022. Facilities manufacturing cosmetics for sale in the US — even overseas factories — must register with the FDA, and products must be listed separately. The FDA began enforcing these requirements on July 1, 2024. Customs has changed too: from August 29, 2025, the US suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries. Even for small seeding boxes, it’s safer to calculate duties and customs paperwork in advance.

In Japan, under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act (薬機法), importing and selling cosmetics requires a company holding a “cosmetics marketing license” to file a marketing notification for each product, and all ingredients must be listed on the container (JETRO, updated Aug 2025). Start by deciding who your local importer or sales partner will be.

In Indonesia, imported cosmetics can only be distributed after completing product notification (notifikasi) with the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM). Halal certification comes on top of this: under Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024, halal certification becomes mandatory for cosmetics, including imports, from October 2026. If you are preparing seeding in Indonesia now, check the halal timeline first.

One Line of Caption Can Cause Trouble

The third is wording. If a brand-supplied product description goes into an influencer’s caption verbatim, that sentence is treated as advertising.

Japan limits the efficacy claims cosmetics can make to 56 defined items (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare notice, 2011). “Makes fine lines caused by dryness less noticeable” or “Prevents dark spots and freckles caused by sun exposure” fall within that scope, but claims of cure such as “dark spots disappear (シミが消える)” go beyond it. The Ministry’s “Standards for Fair Advertising of Pharmaceuticals, etc.” (revised 2017) also stipulate that cosmetics advertising must not exceed this scope.

Copy written in Korean deserves the same scrutiny. Expressions that could read as drug efficacy — such as “treat,” “improve,” “regenerate,” or definitive whitening claims — are permitted to different degrees in different countries, so filter them again against local standards before translating. The US FTC guide likewise states that influencers must not make unsubstantiated efficacy claims.

The safest approach is for the brand to send a short, country-specific list of “words you can use” and “words you can’t” along with the product. Creators keep their own voice, while efficacy claims stay within the rules.

One More Check Before You Ship

The three steps come in order: first, whether the product can enter the country (registration and customs); next, what to disclose in posts (ad disclosure); and finally, what not to say (wording). This table summarizes publicly available information as of October 2026; we recommend consulting local experts before actual execution.

Through our Japan and Indonesia offices and networks in each country, HOMI FACTORY builds each country’s disclosure and wording standards into the campaign guidelines first — and only then sends products to creators.