The product group includes all the types of products that fall under the EU Cosmetics Regulation, eg. products for skin and hair care, sun protection products and decorative cosmetics. In addition, it is also possible to Nordic Swan Ecolabel care products for animals, sex products whose composition is similar to cosmetic products (eg. lube and anal cream) and wet wipes.
Products covered by the Biocides Regulation cannot be Nordic Swan Ecolabelled.
The substances that are part of a Nordic Swan Ecolabelled cosmetic product must live up to strict environmental and chemical requirements. This means that the use of a number of drugs is prohibited. In addition, there are requirements for the design of the packaging in order to both limit material consumption and waste of the products.
The requirements include:
Environmental properties (degradability, bioaccumulability and toxicity to aquatic organisms) of the chemical substances used.
No use of substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, harmful to reproduction or allergenic.
No use of substances on the EU list of substances suspected of being endocrine disruptors.
No use of microplastics.
No perfume in baby and baby products.
Packaging volume and degree of emptying for different types of packaging.
Below you will find all the necessary documents and background information to apply for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.
The criteria document for cosmetic products is an overall document for the commodity groups:
Shampoo, conditioner, soap and toothpaste.
Sunscreen and after-sun products.
Wet wipes.
Other cosmetic products.
Products outside the scope of the Cosmetics Regulation.
If you have several products within the same commodity group that are manufactured in the same production site, they are considered as one single licence. Application fees are paid per licence while the annual fee is paid across all licences in the product group.
Type of fee
Amount
Application fee including one on-site inspection within the Nordic region *)
3 000 EUR + VAT, however not less than 750 EUR + VAT per formulation/recipe
Renewal fee*
1 500 EUR + VAT, however not less than 375 EUR + VAT per formulation/recipe
More than one inspection visit within the Nordic region**
If the extension includes new formulations/recipes, prices are the same as those applicable to amendments to an existing licence, however not less than 750 EUR + VAT per formulations/recipe.
Annual licence fee for Nordic region
0,3% of turnover + VAT per year for 0 - 50 million EUR.
0,05% of turnover + VAT per year for > 50 million EUR.
Minimum fee for Nordic region
2 000 EUR + VAT per year
Maximum fee for Nordic region
No maximum fee
Fees for sale outside the Nordic region
(Only if revenue > 300 000 EUR per year)
2 000 EUR + VAT per year
*Certain non cosmetic care products, which are not covered by the cosmetics regulation, may be licensed with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel in order to the criteria of the product group definition. These non cosmetic care products are collected in a separate commodity with a separate fee.
** When both the applicant and the manufacturer are micro-enterprises, the fee is reduced by 50%. A micro-enterprise is in this context defined as an enterprise with less than 10 employees and an annual turnover (of both ecolabelled and not ecolabelled products) below 2 million EUR.
*** Where audits requires more than one day away from the office including travelling, Nordic Ecolabelling can invoice an additional fee of 1 000 EUR per extra day. Other extraordinary costs induced by the audit can also be invoiced the applicant.
**** As for an extension of or amendments to a licence, time consumed in connection with the review process will be invoiced according to the extent of the required task. We make a distinction between entirely administrative tasks that last less than 1 hour, and all other tasks that last between 1 and 4 hours, between 4 and 8 hours and more than 8 hours.
The recipient is liable for the VAT according to article 56 of the Council Directive 2006/112/EC.
All information given on this site is subject to a disclaimer for errors and omissions