Iofga Launches Eu Organic Standards For Health And Beauty

IOA are pleased to announce the introduction of a new EU-wide, harmonised standard for organic health and beauty products.

This is the first common standard in the world that will ensure clarity
and transparency for both consumers and the trade at a time when the
organic health and beauty market is experiencing extremely significant
growth – in 2008 UK sales of organic health and beauty products increased
an impressive 69% to £27 million [1]. Many Irish consumers buy organic health and beauty products on a regular basis and it would be great to see more Irish products available on the market.

In the EU, all food and drink must be certified as organic before it
can be sold as organic. This regulation does not extend to organic beauty
products. As there is no legal definition as to what constitutes an
‘organic’ beauty product – products labelled as such may vary enormously
in the organic content and the other ingredients they contain. A company
can label or describe a product as organic even if they only contain tiny
amounts of organic ingredients.

The new COSMOS-standard [2] is a result of six years work at EU level. It also covers the regulation of natural cosmetics. The objective of this new standard
is ambitious and ensures that consumers “get what it says on the label”. In the long term it ensures that there is more traceability within the industry itself. The end result will be a greater variety of products which contain high levels of organic ingredients, and contain no traces of banned products such as parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances and GM ingredients.

IOA will be in a position to offer these new standards starting in October 2009 when they will be available throughout the EU.
The Irish Organic Association (IOFGA) is the largest organic certification organisation in Ireland representing approx 1,150 farmers, growers and processors. It is responsible for certifying the organic provenance of its members produce and the IOA symbol indicates that a product has met the highest standard or organic integrity. IOA also works to inform the public about the benefits or organic food and to support the development of organic food production in Ireland.

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For further information please contact:

Grace Maher
Development Officer IOFGA
Tel 087 6125989