Soil Association (United Kingdom)

The Soil Association looks after organic produce in the UK covering everything from food standards and farming to textile production. The Soil Association launched its standards for health and beauty in 2002 and they are considered to be the strictest of all of the various accreditation bodies looking after the cosmetics industry.

To be certified by the Soil Association as ‘organic’ products must contain 95% or higher organic ingredients. Products can also carry the symbol if they contain 70% or higher organic ingredients. In these instances, the product will say ‘made with X% organic ingredients, making it easy for the consumer to see exactly what the organic content of the product is.

For more information on the Soil Association symbol and what it means, go to their website www.soilassociation.org

ECOCERT (France)

ECOCERT, a French based company, carry out inspections and organic certification services across the EU and in over 80 countries outside the EU, making them an internationally recognised and respected accreditation body. For more information on ECOCERT, go to their website www.ecocert.com

USDA (America)

USDA stands for the United States Department of Agriculture, who govern organic standards in America. The NOP (National Organic Program) specifically look after the cosmetics industry.

There are 4 levels of ‘organic’ accreditation available:

1. “100% certified organic” - 100% of the ingredients used are organic. The product is certified and licensed to carry the USDA organic logo.
   
   
2. “Certified organic” - 95% or higher certified organic ingredients. The product is certified and licensed to carry the USDA organic logo.
   
   
3. “Made with organic ingredients” – 70% or higher certified organic ingredients. The product is certified by the USDA but cannot bear the organic logo.
   
   
4. For products carrying less than 70% organic ingredients, the ingredients can be indicated with an asterisk, denoting that only these ingredients are certified by the USDA and not the finished product. Unable to carry the USDA organic logo or call itself an organic product.

AGRIQUALITY

AgriQuality is an independent government regulatory body and the leading provider of agriculture safety and biosecurity services in the Southern hemisphere. AgriQuality meets the most stringent of worldwide organic standards as set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

NASAA / ACO (Australia)

The National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia and Australian Certified Organic are two bodies governing organic standards in the health & beauty industry in Australia.

ACO requires 95% or higher organic ingredients to be recognised as a ‘certified organic’ product licensed to carry the ACO logo.

Products carrying not less than 70% organic ingredients are able to use the reference “made with X% organic ingredients” but such products are unable to call them organic.

BDIH (Germany)

Based in Germany, BDIH is a European organisation that certifies the naturalness of a beauty product or cosmetic. It does not cover the organic status of a product. For more information on how their classification works and how a product can achieve the BDIH Certified Natural Cosmetic logo, please go to kontrollierte-naturkosmetic.de. In general, ingredients should be plant based with the use of some minerals allowed. Where preservatives are not natural but nature-identical e.g. salicylic acid, these must be clearly labelled as a preservative on the packaging. They do not allow any synthetic dyes, colorants or fragrances, or any petroleum based products, silicones or any ingredient which
has been produced using ‘ethoxylation’

DEMETER

Demeter is the official body for biodynamic farming. Biodynamic agriculture is the oldest and most sustainable approach to farming and gardening in existence. It is founded on a holistic and spiritual understanding of nature and man and builds on the pioneering research work of Rudolf Steiner. Not only does it exclude the use of synthetic fertilisers and chemicals in crop production, it also requires specific measures to strengthen life processes in soil and plants. The Demeter logo can be found on products whose brands adopt this style of farming to produce their ingredients. For more information on Demeter, please go to www.demeter.net

THE VEGAN SOCIETY

Products which display the vegan society sunflower logo have been developed and manufactured without any testing of any sort on animals conducted at the request of the manufacturer or on its behalf, or by third parties over whom the manufacturer has control.

Any genetically modified organisms which make up the product must not have involved any animal-derived substances. Products which do contain any genetically modified ingredients must be clearly labelled as such.