Natrue Membership Assembly was a big success

The Association for Natural & Organic Cosmetics Natrue hosted a highly successful Membership Assembly on 22 May. At the meeting new members were welcomed and old members were updated of the latest endeavours in the world of natural and organic cosmetics. Natrue currently comprises nearly 50 members from almost 20 different nations worldwide. Members, partners and leading experts in the sector gathered in Berlin to attend the conference. The annual meeting of Natrue is becoming a fixed date in the industry agenda, as an opportunity to find about Natrue's development, discuss the challenges of the sector, and network at a very high level with key players in the NOC sector.

Picture: Natrue President Klara Ahlers (CEO Lavera, Germany) was pleased to welcome the international members in Berlin. Photo Karin Heinze

16 new members - over 4300 certified products

The Natrue Association is steadily growing, as the need for a unified voice for Natural & Organic Cosmetics grows. 16 new members were approved at the 2015 Membership Assembly from around the world - 10 from Germany, 2 from Turkey, 1 from Italy, 1 from The Netherlands and 2 from Switzerland.
The Natrue logo is also growing in stature. There are now over 4300 Natrue certified products. The first quarter of 2015 came to a close with almost 280 newly certified products, confirming and reinforcing projections for 2015 for a total of 1000 newly certified products by the end of the year. The association is increasingly recognised as a seal of quality and reliability, and the certification standard that meets both consumers' expectations and manufacturers' needs. There is also increased interest from companies outside the EU - with 17% of brands now from outside the EU (+2% on last year). "Natrue is growing in popularity as a label that is highly respected for its strict criteria and standards of naturalness, as well as providing truly international recognition for brands seeking access to multiple markets both inside and outside the EU", is reported in a press release.
Natrue's visibility is also expanding, with plans for an exciting new website unveiled at the Membership Assembly. Specially tailored content has been prepared, and new sections to the website have been added for consumers, manufacturers and press making information even more accessible than before. New downloadable fact sheets on political, scientific and regulatory issues have also been introduced.

Political & Scientific Activities

Natrue has provided the authentic natural and organic industry with a voice and is officially recognised by the EU institutions and at a global level for its activities. Natrue's key political priorities were highlighted at the Assembly:
1) Article 20/ISO Guidelines The ongoing need for a strict regulatory definition of natural and organic continues. Julie Tyrrell was accepted to represent Natrue in the European Commission's Working Group on Cosmetics as well in the European Standardization Organization's Working Group on Cosmetics, CEN (Natrue is already a member of ISO TC217 WG4).
2) Fragrance allergens Natrue joined forces with other organisations in an industry consortium that participates in and contributes to the future revised regulatory provisions on fragrance allergens.
3) Denaturants The EC is considering reducing the list of allowed denaturants to just a couple of synthetic ingredients. NATRUE has provided its written position on denaturants to the EC and actively participates in the regulatory evolution of this process - a vital issue for the sector, to protect the use of genuinely natural ingredients.
4) GMOs Natrue is a Roundtable member of IFOAM's three-year project 'Keeping GMOS Out of Organics', an initiative intended to protect the GMO-free supply chain against GMO contamination. Natrue continues to support IFOAM's position, as Natrue likewise does not accept that GMOs have a place in natural and organic cosmetics.
In conclusion

Klara Ahlers, Natrue President, concluded: "Political presence in 2015 is even more important than it was when Natrue was first founded. The EU is working on several new regulatory issues. Natrue is working as an advocate and ambassador for natural cosmetics and is the only cosmetic association active in all major and relevant bodies. In order for the necessary concerns about natural cosmetics to be heard, and ensures that facts are substantiated supplemented and incorporated into influential documents. Without Natrue, certified natural cosmetics would have no voice in Brussels and consumers' interests could not be defended".

Julie Tyrrell, Natrue Director of Public Affairs, commented: "The Natrue criteria are, and continue to be, clearer, more transparent and stricter than the ISO guidelines, both regarding the Definitions for ingredients (which have now been approved) as well the Criteria for ingredients and products (which are to be finalised by the end of this year). Indeed, ISO comprises an "agreement to agree", as opposed to the Natrue Label criteria which focuses on authenticity of the products, guaranteeing maximum naturalness of each Natrue certified product and leaving no room for greenwashing, to the benefit of consumers worldwide".

About Natrue

Since 2009 Natrue has developed a truly international standard, based on an independent certification system, with the goal of helping consumers identifying natural and organic cosmetics truly worth of that name. In 2010 the Raw Material certification process was launched. Being a non-profit association, Natrue can implement fee policies based on a constant reduction of the costs connected to the use of the Label the more Label users join the system. Following this approach, the Label fee for Raw Materials has been reduced from 200 € to 50 € each in October 2014.