Certification and approval process

What can be certified or approved with the NATRUE Label?

Finished cosmetic products

Description
Certification for producers, third-party manufacturers and brand owners who wish to place on the market a finished cosmetic product (B2C) certified with the NATRUE Label under one of its two certification levels (natural or organic).

Certification or approval?
Only certification.

Costs
Certification costs: invoiced entirely by the NATRUE Approved Certifier and subject to the certification body you decide to work with.
NATRUE label fee: 220 euros/certified product for a 2-year certificate. If more than 100 products are certified, then the label fee is 170 euros/certified product for a 2-year certificate.

Raw Materials

Description
Certification or approval of raw materials intended for producers, traders or wholesalers of raw materials (B2B).

Certification or approval?
Depending on the raw material, different scenarios might apply:

• Not from organic agriculture (natural, derived natural substances)
  • Documentation check only
  • NATRUE approval

• From organic agriculture (natural, applicable derived natural substances)
  • No documentation check + no audit: Raw materials certified to a regulation or standard in the IFOAM Family of Standards without further processing are automatically accepted.
  • Documentation check + on-site inspection applies where raw materials are:
    • not certified to a regulation or standard in the IFOAM Family of Standards
      • NATRUE certification – documentation check + audit every two years [exceptional procedure for customised raw materials*]
    • certified to a regulation or standard in the IFOAM Family of Standards but are repacked / relabelling out of the scope of these regulations or standards
      • NATRUE approval with documentation check + one initial audit

*NB: The conformity of a customized raw material(s) uniquely used by a finished product manufacturer, including, but not limited to, a personalised fragrance blend(s), are controlled by the NAC when the finished product containing these substances undergoes certification.

Costs
Certifications costs are always invoiced entirely by the NATRUE Approved Certifier the applicant decides to work with.
NATRUE label fee: 50 euros per approved or certified raw material for a 2-year certificate (renewable after 2-years).

Grouped NATRUE label fee: eligible for

• single ingredient plant extracts (e.g. [essential] oils);
• defined plant extracts where the base extraction is the same (e.g. glycerine/water);
• raw materials from the same supplier with identical INCI composition (e.g. Xanthan Gum or powders in various qualities).

In all cases listed above the label fee is grouped and invoiced collectively. For example, for 10 plant oils, the label fee would be €50 and not €500 (cf. Label Usage Agreement for Raw Materials, available for download at the end of this page).

You can find more information about NATRUE’s Raw Materials Scheme here

Formulas

Description
The approval of formulas is intended for third-party manufacturers who wish to sell their formulas to brand owners so they can use them under their own brand (B2B, no marketing at this stage).

Certification or approval?
Only approval.

Costs
Approval costs: invoiced entirely by the NATRUE Approved Certifier and subject to the certification body you decide to work with.
NATRUE label fee: 220 euros/approved formula for a 2-year certificate.

Kindly note that renewal of the 2-year certificate is not automatic. If you wish to renew it, we recommend you to contact your NAC at least 3-4 months before the expiration date of your certificate.

List of NATRUE approved formulas
You can download the list of NATRUE approved formulas here (last updated: March 2022).

ℹ️ As an international non-profit association, the label fees costs are used to fund NATRUE’s activities (for example, attendance to trade shows, development of NATRUE’s Label, daily running of the association, etc.).

1. Read carefully the NATRUE Criteria to internally assess how to formulate according to the NATRUE Standard (or reformulate in case of already existing products/raw materials). You can find the NATRUE Criteria and the corresponding Annexes in the download box at the end of this page.
2. Choose a NATRUE Approved Certifier (NAC) to guide you through the whole certification or approval process. NATRUE does not certify or approve directly in order to make the whole process more independent and transparent. This is the reason why we work with a worldwide network of independent and accredited certification bodies who verify and control that only finished products and raw materials that comply with the criteria within the NATRUE Standard can carry the NATRUE Label. We recommend you to contact 2 or 3 certifiers to compare their services, availability and costs. You can find the full list of NACs here.
3. As soon as you chose your NAC and sign a contract with them, you will need to sign and send back to NATRUE the Agreement on the Usage of the NATRUE Label. After signing this Agreement, you will be able to adapt the packaging and marketing materials of your finished products and raw materials with the NATRUE Label. You can find the Agreement and the Label User Guide with instructions about the use of the label in the download box at the end of this page.
4. Once your products, formulas or raw materials have successfully been certified or approved by your NAC, you will be issued with a certificate. Certified or approved products, formulas or raw materials will be then added to NATRUE’s online database, which is publicly accessible.
5. After the certificate has been issued, you will receive an invoice(s) for the NATRUE Label fee(s) linked to your finished products or raw materials. These fees cover the right to use the NATRUE Label on packaging and marketing materials of your certified finished products and certified/approved raw materials.

Please find all the necessary documentation and further explanations about the certification and approval process in the documents available for download in the box below. Should you need any further details, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@natrue.eu.