USA: Certification of NSF Organic Beauty Products

Certification for the NSF/ANSI 305 standard for organic personal care and beauty products has begun. The "Contains Organic Ingredients" seal gives manufacturers an alternative to the USDA’s organic seal which is applicable only to products that are made up of agricultural ingredients and demands 95 % organic ingredients. NSF/ANSI 305 has been in development for some time and its official launch follows the successful testing of the standard and certification process on a handful of manufacturers, Organic Monitor reports. “We had to run some products through the system to make sure it was working properly, so there are in fact a few products already on the market carrying the NSF seal,” said Joe Smillie, senior vice president of QAI, an organic certifier which certifies to NSF/ANSI 305. This testing period was successful, according to Mr Smillie, and now the standard is open to certification applications.
 

Hopeful applicants can expect approximately 2 months processing time, from the submission of a full and completed application form; although, the process in total can take up to three months depending on how many modifications need to be made to the application. NSF/ANSI 305 joins a number of other personal care and beauty standards available on the international marketplace. Research by Organic Monitor finds that BDIH and Ecocert have the highest take-up rates in Europe, whereas NaTrue and the Soil Association have widespread recognition but lower uptake rates. In the USA, the Natural Products Association offers a natural standard for personal care products, and the USDA offers an organic standard for personal care products based on agricultural products. However, these standards are by no means national entities and some have significant standing and recognition outside their geographical regions. Nevertheless, Organic Monitor believes there are significant differences between the markets, notably in certification take-up rates. In contrast to Europe, where the business research company suggests approximately two-thirds of organic and natural products have some form of certification, only 5 % are certified in the USA.

Organic Monitor