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1 National Organic Standards
Board
Certification, Accreditation, and Compliance
Committee
DISCUSSION
DOCUMENT
March 23, 2009
Solving the Problem of
Mislabeled Organic Cosmetics & Personal Care Products
Purpose
The Certification,
Accreditation, and Compliance Committee (CACC) recommends that
organic cosmetics/personal care products be recognized
explicitly by the National Organic Program (NOP) to ensure
consumers and businesses alike that the products have an
unquestioned home in the USDA National Organic Program. The
purpose of this document is to present the topic for public
discussion and comment and then to incorporate feedback into a
CACC Recommendation for the NOSB Public Meeting in Fall 2009.
Background
The statement
of the USDA on August 23, 2005 extended the USDA regulations to
cover the organic claims made by cosmetic/ personal care
products which meet the composition requirements for organic
food. With this recognition has come the full force of
certification and enforcement. While this is an improvement over
what previously existed, an ever-increasing stream of cosmetic/
personal care products making organic claims continues to flow
in to the market place. Please see the Appendix at the end of
this document for a detailed text of the National Organic
Program’s current stance on the certification of cosmetics, body
care products, and personal care products.
Cosmetics, Body Care Products, and Personal Care Products
The Problem of Mislabeled Cosmetics and
Personal Care Products
Consumers are not assured that organic claims are
consistently reviewed and applied to this product class.
Manufacturers of cosmetics/personal care products that contain
organic ingredients are hindered by a thicket of competing
private standards and confusion regarding the applicability of
the NOP to their products. Transactions lack the regulatory
clarity that applies under the NOP to food products that contain
organic ingredients. The USDA is responsible for the product
organic claims but is not currently enforcing this in the area
of personal care products Given the pace of development of this
marketplace, and the important but uneven development of private
standards, the NOSB should take the necessary initial steps to
bring this product class into a coordinated existence with
organic food products under the NOP. This recommendation takes
the initial steps toward:
1) assuring consumers that the federal government is policing
these claims
2) allowing for the development of a complete federal organic
cosmetic program
For the sake of clarity, the recommendation language below
will use the term "cosmetics" rather than "personal care
products." The phrase "personal care products" does not have a
federally recognized definition whereas "cosmetics" is already
defined by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C.
321i. 2
Recommendation
To facilitate the development of a single national standard
for this product class, and to ensure consumers that organic
cosmetic products meet a consistent standard, the CACC
recommends that the following amendments be made to 7 CFR Part
205. Underlined text is to be added to the current rule.
1. §205.102. Add Definition of Cosmetic:
(1) An article intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled,
or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the
human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying,
promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and (2) an
article, other than soap, intended for use as a component or
ingredient of any such articles (Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 321i) .
2. §205.100(a) Add words "including cosmetics"
Except for operations exempt or excluded in § 205.101, each
production or handling operation or specified portion of a
production or handling operation that produces or handles crops,
livestock, livestock products, or other agricultural products
including cosmeticsthat are intended to be sold, labeled, or
represented as "100 percent organic," "organic," or "made with
organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))" must be
certified according to the provisions of subpart E of this part
and must meet all other applicable requirements of this
3. §205.102 Use of the term "organic."
Any agricultural product, including
cosmetics,that is sold, labeled or represented as "100
percent organic," "organic," or "made with organic (specified
ingredients or food group(s))must be: * * *
4. §205.300 Use of the term, "organic."
(a) The term, "organic" may only be used on labels and in
labeling of raw or processed agricultural products, including
ingredients of any product, without regard to the end use of
the product,that is sold, labeled or represented as "100
percent organic," "organic," or "made with organic (specified
ingredients or food group(s))must be: * * *
5. §205.311 USDA Seal
(a) The USDA seal described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
section may be used only for farm or processed agricultural
products, including cosmetics, described in paragraphs *
* * 3
Appendix: The following information is currently provided to
the public by the USDA NOP
United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Marketing Service National
Organic Program
www.ams.usda.gov/nop ph 202-720-3252
Cosmetics, Body Care Products, and Personal
Care Products, April 2008
● FDA does not define or regulate the term "organic," as it
applies to cosmetics, body care, or personal care products.
● USDA regulates the term "organic" as it applies to
agricultural products through its National Organic Program (NOP)
regulation, 7 CFR Part 205.
● If a cosmetic, body care product, or personal care product
contains or is made up of agricultural ingredients, and can meet
the USDA/NOP organic production, handling, processing and
labeling standards, it may be eligible to be certified under the
NOP regulations.
● The operations which produce the organic agricultural
ingredients, the handlers of these agricultural ingredients, and
the manufacturer of the final product must all be certified by a
USDA-accredited organic certifying agent.
● Once certified, cosmetics, personal care products, and body
care products are eligible for the same 4 organic labeling
categories as all other agricultural products, based on their
organic content and other factors:
"100 percent organic"--Product must contain (excluding
water and salt) only organically produced ingredients. Products
may display the USDA Organic Seal and must display the
certifying agent’s name and address.
"Organic"--Product must contain at least 95 percent
organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).
Remaining product ingredients must consist of nonagricultural
substances approved on the National List or nonorganically
produced agricultural products that are not commercially
available in organic form, also on the National List. Products
may display the USDA Organic Seal and must display the
certifying agent’s name and address.
"Made with organic ingredients"-- Products contain at
least 70 percent organic ingredients and product label can list
up to three of the organic ingredients or "food" groups on the
principal display panel. For example, body lotion made with at
least 70 percent organic ingredients (excluding water and salt)
and only organic herbs may be labeled either "body lotion made
with organic lavender, rosemary, and chamomile," or "body lotion
made with organic herbs." Products may not display the USDA
Organic Seal and must display the certifying agent’s name and
address.
Less than 70 percent organic ingredients--Products cannot
use the term "organic" anywhere on the principal display panel.
However, they may identify the specific ingredients that are
USDA-certified as being organically produced on the ingredients
statement on the information panel. Products may
not display the
USDA Organic Seal and may not
display a certifying agent’s name and
address. (Water and salt are also excluded here.)
● Any cosmetic, body care
product, or personal care product that does not meet the
production, handling, processing, labeling, and certification
standards described above, may not state, imply, or convey in
any way that the product is USDA-certified organic or meets the
USDA organic standards.
However:
● USDA has no authority over
the production and labeling of cosmetics, body care products,
and personal care products that are not made up of agricultural
ingredients, or do not make any claims to meeting USDA organic
standards.
● Cosmetics, body care
products, and personal care products may be certified to other,
private standards and be marketed to those private standards in
the United States. These standards might include foreign organic
standards, eco-labels, earth friendly, etc. USDA’s NOP does not
regulate these labels at this time.
CACC motion to present this document at the May 2009 meeting
of the NOSB approved on March 23, 2009 Motion: Tracy Miedema 2 nd:
Julie Weisman Votes: Yes 5, No 0, Absent 1, Abstain 0
information via the USDA.gov website with permission of
publication rights.
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