|
|
|
 |
Seal of approval allotted by Écocert, organization of control and certification French approved by the National institute of Origin and of Quality and accredited by COFRAC (French Committee of Accreditation). To profit from this certification, a cosmetic product, and its chain of production, must be controlled by Écocert and be in conformity with the technical criteria established in 2003 by the Ministry of Industry.
Ecocert criteria were founded on some basic principles:
• Privileging implementation of raw materials from natural origins over any other origin
• Privileging those ingredients which result from organic farming
• Ccommunication regarding consumer concerns in order to avoid error
• Application of precautions as soon as the scientific community raises a question of concern relating to consumers or the environment.
Concretely, this translates into rules concerning minimum percentages; that ingredients of natural and biological origins must be present in the end product, and requirements concerning their methods for obtaining them, their quality, their degree of purity and manufacturing processes of the product.Thus, ionizing treatments or GMO, especially are prohibited, the processes for obtaining raw materials can be physical or chemical, but only from those denominated on a restrictive list which contains only those which are the least polluting.
In addition, the seal of Ecocert is prohibited on products which use ingredients of animal (living or dead) origin, with the exception of those natural by-products of animals which can be harmlessly taken from them (eggs, milk, honey …). It also banishes in large part those ingredients resulting from synthesis (dyes, fragrances, antioxydants, silicones, ingredients resulting from petrochemistry …), even though it authorizes up to 5% in the end product, when they are considered essential.
It also defines a restrictive list of 15 authorized synthetic ingredients, including 6 preservatives. Note that the initial stamp of approval also authorized the use of Parabens and Phenoxyethanol for preservation of the ingredients, a provision abolished on January 1, 2009.
Besides the legal declaration of ingredients under their official approval defined by the nomenclature INCI, the Ecocert seal of approval encourages manufacturers to propose their translation into French. It also recommends to claim the non use of animal testing on finished cosmetic products, even if this is a legal requirement, envisaged by the European regulation for all cosmetic products, and not a specificity of organic products …
Ecocert can certify the respect of all charters of biological cosmetics, but one mainly finds this mark on products labelled Cosmébio et Cosméco.
For further information
• Website of Ecocert
|
|
|
|
|
Know more about all the CosmeticOBS-L'Observatoire des Cosmétiques experts. They are all free of any link with any brand and any manufacturer, and they give you their best advice.
