UEBT promotes the 'Sourcing with Respect' of ingredients from biodiversity, and the cosmetics and pharmaceutical company joins other members such as organic cosmetics company Weleda and Brazilian cosmetics player Natura.
Big step forward
UEBT executive director Rik Kutsch Lojenga believes the addition of Laboratoires Expanscience to the UEBT community is a great step forward.
"Laboratoires Expanscience is active in pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors, two very important industries for UEBT,” he comments.
“I hope Laboratoires Expanscience will inspire other companies to follow the same path and make similarly strong commitments to the ethical sourcing of biodiversity."
In becoming a member of UEBT, Laboratoires Expanscience commits to the principles of Ethical BioTrade and will apply the Ethical BioTrade Standard to its sourcing practices.
This means ensuring that sourcing practices promote biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as making sure that benefits are shared equally along the supply chain.
Sustainable development strategy
"Plants are our most important raw material when developing active ingredients for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries,” says Alex Saunois, Lipochemistry and Plant Extract research and development manager for Laboratoires Expanscience.
“Joining UEBT is both a way to recognize the work we have already done as part of our sustainable development strategy as well as a commitment to the future.”
According to the company, as part of its work as a member of UEBT, Laboratoires Expanscience has developed a work plan for the next five years.
It claims that much of its work will focus on tracing its ingredients back as far as possible down the supply chain and making sure that in each of these supply chains both biodiversity and the rights of suppliers and producers are being respected.