There is not a legitimate standard yet in Europe relating to beauty products and cosmetics with organic ingredients.

Despite a growing transversal demand and an aggression to the market from companies that are not "natural" at all. The natural cosmetics market is very interesting and has been developed to meet an increased market demand. It moves with different dynamics than the sector of certified organic food and, unfortunately, it is not regulated by legislation.

This means that products can often be found that look like natural, but don't have any specific guarantees on their authenticity, especially when those who produce and market these products can not boast an environmental consistency.
In the "organic" sector, in order to meet the demand, there are more and more certification companies that are equipped to offer their customers a suitable solution, thus ensuring a quality standard in line with the objectives expressed by the regulations applied in other areas, first of all the food sector.

In recent times there has been an effort to harmonize standards among the European certification. It is a positive figure that highlights the will to develop complying lines within the national contexts and different markets. Among these, the Cosmos standard (Cosmetics Organic Standard), that is promoted in Italy by ICEA and sees the collaboration of 4 or 5 international bodies including the Soil Association in England and Ecocert in France.

The limit, despite the emphasis that has been put on the "European standard", is that in fact this standard unlikely will able to harmonize the various regulations in Europe, making organic the concept of organic cosmetics.

From a strictly technical point of view, the standard is 90% comparable to the disciplinary code of Ecocert, and it differs significantly from that of the individual promoters, such as certification bodies (not production ones), now can extend the range of services for their customers. The fact that the need to develop this standard is not born, however, from producing companies is something that deserves attention because it flips the view of the production system.

The road to the unique standard is still very long and must pass through the implementation of a public regulation, better if a European one. It is on quality and transparency that the reputation of an industry is strengthened and we haven't moved from this stage yet.

In the next future GreenPlanet will deal, together with those companies that want to participate, to a deepening on the cosmetics industry. The aim is to present clearly the most important persons in the production and certification sectors, as well as clarify what are the needs of consumers and the quality of the proposal. (f.b.)