Natural Products Association and NaTrue Work Toward Equivalency Agreement for Natural Cosmetics

WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Natural Products Association (NPA), the leading U.S. trade organization for manufacturers, retailers and distributors of natural products, and NaTrue, the International Natural and Organic Cosmetics Association located in Brussels, Belgium, have announced that they will work toward establishing a mutual recognition agreement. Both organizations have created high level standards for natural personal care. Once in place, the agreement would mean that products complying with either the NPA or NaTrue standard would be recognized by each body as compliant with their harmonized standards.

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"On a practical level, products that meet the NPA standard will not need to repeat the full certification process for the NaTrue label, and vice versa," said Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., Natural Products Association vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. "Our goal has always been to protect the integrity of the word 'natural' when it comes to personal care. This agreement with NaTrue will help consumers at the point of sale in identifying a wider array of truly natural cosmetics."

"Both associations are based on similar values and this is reflected in the fact that both standards have strict criteria that leave no room for black holes," highlights Julie Tyrrell, NaTrue general secretary. "It is only logical that comparable standards cooperate instead of competing against each other. With the mutual recognition we offer label users easy access to the most important markets worldwide. This is what consumers expect."

The NPA standard was launched in May 2008 and over 340 products and ingredients have been certified to date. The NaTrue standard was launched in September 2008 with over 390 products certified, including natural, made with organic, and organic products, and is now open to raw material certification. Several hundred other products are in the process of being certified by both trade associations.

Both parties hope to have the formal agreement in effect by summer of 2010.

About the Natural Products Association

The Natural Products Association (www.NPAinfo.org) is the nation's largest and oldest non-profit organization dedicated to the natural products industry. The association represents more than 10,000 retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors of natural products, including foods, dietary supplements, and health/beauty aids.

About NaTrue

NaTrue is the International Association for Natural & Organic Cosmetics that aims to safeguard the highest possible standards for Natural Cosmetics and their ingredients. Based in Brussels, it represents its members' interests towards legislative institutions as well as providing an effective platform and network to promote Natural Personal Care. For more information, visit http://www.natrue.org/

SOURCE Natural Products Association