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Industry Develops Organic Standard for Personal Care Products

March 18, 2008

OASIS, the first organic standard for the U.S. beauty and personal care market, will bring clarity to organic product claims. The only "industry consensus" standard, it has the support of 30 founding members.

As more products claim to be "organic," the potential for consumer confusion rises. This is compounded by the existence of disparate regulatory seals in the marketplace. Organic And Sustainable Industry Standards – OASIS -- was formed by a group of concerned trade professionals representing the beauty and personal care industry supply chain.

"Along with many of the founding members of OASIS, I have had been working for the past 10 years to certify organic products in this fragmented market," says Tim Kapsner, founding member of OASIS and senior research scientist for Aveda. "In absence of a true industry standard, companies applied the USDA Organic food standard for beauty and personal care ingredients and products. But the USDA's food standards were never designed for this industry, and its strict guidelines limit even certain types of 'green chemistry' and pose significant challenges for those seeking to create certified organic products," Kapsner continued.

OASIS is the result of suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors working to set standards and clarity in the dynamic and fast-growing field of organic beauty and personal care products.

Specifically created for the beauty and personal care industry, ECOCERT is the current prevailing European standard and certification is predicated on a minimum of 10 percent certified organic content. At launch time, OASIS will require 85 percent certified organic content, which will likely increase as green chemistry evolves.