Certifications

The importance of certifications

According to European Union (EU) legislation, only agricultural products and food that have been certified as organic can be sold as organic. However, this legal limitation does not exist with regard to non-food products, such as cosmetic products. Thus, a company can label or describe a product as organic even if it contains a very small percentage of ingredients that are actually organic and even contains ingredients potentially harmful to human health and as such prohibited according to biological standards.

The absence of specific regulations, either in Portugal or at EU level, in terms of organic cosmetics and the existence of an increasing number of companies improperly selling and advertising cosmetics as being natural and organic has led to the development of certifications capable of to ensure consumers a set of environmental values ​​and safety in the use of these products.

Thus, the logo of a certifying entity on cosmetic products is a valuable tool for the consumer, as it ensures that they are indeed natural and organic, in accordance with concretely defined criteria.

There is a set of certifying entities worldwide that carry out inspections to ensure that the defined criteria are effectively fulfilled. We present below a brief summary of the criteria defined by the main certifying bodies at European level which are responsible for certifying the different products that Green Goji sells (you can find the identification of the applicable certification next to the description of each product).

natrue

NATRUE – The International Natural and Organic Cosmetics Association AISBL is an international non-profit association that developed the NATRUE label, an international certification standard for natural and organic cosmetics, which ensures not only the natural and organic quality of the ingredients that compose them, as well as the use of non-aggressive production processes and environmentally friendly practices, thus promoting organic farming and sustainability.

A NATRUE certification ensures that the following have not been used: synthetic fragrances and dyes, petroleum products (paraffins, PEG, -propyl-, -alkyl-, etc.), silicone and derivatives, genetically modified ingredients (in compliance with EU legislation) , irradiation of final products and botanical ingredients. It also ensures that the products have not been tested on animals.

Under the NATRUE label, natural and organic cosmetics are divided into three levels: 1. Natural; 2. Natural with biological part; and 3. Biological. Only products that have previously been qualified as natural (level 1) can qualify as level 2 and 3 products.

Natural cosmetics: The ingredients must be natural, but not necessarily from organic farming. Additionally, natural ingredients can only be processed according to a limited number of production processes. For each type of product, a minimum limit of natural ingredients and a maximum limit of naturally derived substances must be respected.

Natural cosmetics with a biological component: At least 70% of the natural ingredients (and/or derived from natural ingredients) must come from controlled organic production and/or controlled wild harvesting. Compared to the first tier, a higher minimum level of natural ingredients and a lower maximum level of derived natural ingredients is required.

Organic cosmetics: At least 95% of the natural (and/or derived from natural) ingredients must come from controlled organic production and/or controlled wild harvesting. Additionally, the minimum level of natural ingredients is even higher than the second level. Only a few specific products reach this level, based on current scientific knowledge.

For more information see the NATRUE website.

ECOCERT (France)

The basic principles of Ecocert certification for natural and organic cosmetics to ensure an environmentally friendly cosmetic product are:

• The use of ingredients derived from renewable resources, produced through environmentally friendly processes. Thus, Ecocert verifies: the absence of GMOs, parabens, phenoxyethanol, nanoparticles, silicone, PEG, synthetic perfumes and dyes, ingredients of animal origin (except if produced naturally by them: milk, honey, etc.) and the biodegradable nature or packaging recyclable.

• Contain a minimum amount of natural ingredients from organic farming.

Under the Ecocert label, natural and organic cosmetics are divided into the following two categories:

Natural cosmetic: A minimum of 95% of the total ingredients must come from natural sources. A minimum of 50% of all plant-based ingredients in the formula and a minimum of 5% of all ingredients by weight must come from organic farming.

Natural and organic cosmetic: A minimum of 95% of the total ingredients must come from natural sources. A minimum of 95% of all plant-based ingredients in the formula and a minimum of 10% of all ingredients by weight must come from organic farming.

For more information, consult the website of ecocert or www.ecocert.com .

SOIL ASSOCIATION (UK)

The Soil Association Standards are based on principles that aim to maximize the proportion of organic ingredients, minimize synthetic ingredients, minimal processing of ingredients and clear labeling so that the consumer can make an informed choice about the product he is buying. . The Standards also contain criteria which imply that biological products must be considered as not being harmful to human health and the environment, in their production and use, and must not be tested on animals.

Under the Soil Association label, natural and organic cosmetics are divided into the following two categories:

Made with xx% organic ingredients (“Made with xx% organic ingredients”): Must contain a minimum of 70% organic ingredients.
Biological (“Organic”): Must contain more than 95% organic ingredients.

For more information, consult the website of Soil Association .

BDIH (Germany)

Main guidelines of the BDIH certification:

• Raw materials obtained from plants must be from controlled organic farming (considering quality and availability) or from controlled biological wild harvesting.

• Animal protection – tests cannot be carried out on animals or raw materials obtained from dead vertebrates (eg spermaceti, turtle oil, animal fat, animal collagen or living cells) may not be used.

• The use of raw materials obtained from minerals and inorganic salts is generally permitted, except for those referred to in point 5 below.

• There are raw materials with restricted use and the actual use of raw materials is regulated by a positive list for the development and production of certified natural cosmetics.

• Deliberate rejection of: “organic-synthetic” dyes, synthetic fragrances, ethoxylated raw materials, silicones, paraffins and other petroleum products.

• To ensure that products are microbiologically safe, certain natural-identical preservatives are permitted in addition to natural preservatives. When these preservatives are used, the products must be labeled “preserved with… [name of the preservative]”.

• It is forbidden to disinfect raw materials and complete cosmetic products using radioactive radiation.

• A neutral supervisory body verifies compliance with the above criteria for the BDIH logo to be used.

Other objectives:

• Ecological compatibility: only raw materials from natural sources, environmentally friendly production processes, optimal degradation of raw materials and finished products, economical, environmentally friendly and recyclable packaging, maintenance of natural life principles;

• Social compatibility: fair trade raw materials or Third World projects, use and disposal, cooperation.

• Rejection of genetic engineering: clear opposition to raw materials extracted from genetically modified organisms

For more information, consult the website of BDIH .

COSMEBIO

Cosmebio is a French non-profit organization that brings together various participants (players) from the cosmetics industry, with the aim of promoting certified organic cosmetics.

Their role includes neither certification nor inspection of cosmetics.
For advertising purposes, it uses the “Cosmebio Charter” label and a “Cosmebio” logo.
It is not mandatory to belong to this organization and does not provide any guarantee additional or different from the certification. A company can only be a member of Cosmebio if it produces cosmetics that were previously certified as organic by a certifying entity.

CCPB (Italy)

The CCPB certifies sustainable organic and ecological products worldwide and has also established a certification for organic cosmetics. The standard for this certification defines the minimum requirements for obtaining two types of products: organic cosmetics and cosmetics with organic ingredients, classified according to the percentage of ingredients from organic farming.

To be called organic, a cosmetic product must contain a minimum of 95% organic raw materials: in production it is not possible to use petroleum derivatives: paraffin, formaldehyde and dyes of synthetic origin. These ingredients are replaced by vegetable derivatives, which are safer for human health and with more attention to safeguarding the environment. Certified cosmetics have more affinity with the skin, thanks to the limited presence of synthetic substances and, in fact, the use of natural ingredients such as floral waters, vegetable oils, essential oils and phyto extracts, preferably from organic farming, is encouraged. Organic cosmetics do not contain GMOs or synthetic perfumes.