Last week Natrue and NSF announced they will work together to develop the first US national standard for natural cosmetics that will be accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in an attempt to reach a global definition of ‘natural’ in personal care.
‘Not the first…’
However NPA has hit back stating such a standard has existed for years, citing its own that was set up in 2008.
John Gay, NPA CEO, said, “NPA is here to help the consumer, not confuse them. A second seal with different standards does no service to natural products customers, retailers, or manufacturers.”
Gay also added that it was 'unfortunate and puzzling' that Natrue and NSF made their announcement in a way that could so easily be misconstrued by the public.
He cited multiple discussions NPA and Natrue had on a mutual recognition of the former’s standards.
“Natrue and NSF no doubt know that the United States already has a successful natural standard, and any standard they developed could not be called the ‘first’. I certainly hope their choice of words was not meant to intentionally mislead anyone,” he said.
Previous discussions
However, Natrue general director Julie Tyrrell responded stating that Natrue had been trying to work with NPA on developing this standard for two years.
“We met with NPA and NSF in the past, and there was support for harmonisation,” she told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.
However she stated that, although willing to reach a mutual recognition, two years down the line, and with no response from NPA, Natrue felt the situation could not be dragged out further.
According to Tyrrell, Natrue wants a transparent standard set up at an international level that consumers can trust. She claimed that NPA were not excluded from these discussions and were informed that the ANSI standard was being set up but had not responded.
“This will be recognised as an official US standard, and by using ANSI we are open to public consensus,” she added.