First test-agency standard for clean cosmetics

KTR said it is the first domestic testing institution to formulate a group standard defining clean cosmetics, a category for which no unified national definition previously existed. Under the new standard, eight companies have received the first round of certification.

Group standards allow industry bodies or testing organizations to set voluntary technical specifications in areas not covered by existing official standards. KTR's standard is intended to give cosmetics makers a common benchmark for clean-cosmetics claims, covering criteria that products must meet to carry the certification.

The eight certified companies are expected to be able to use the certification mark in marketing their products under the standard's requirements.

The characterization "first in Korea" in some coverage is a strengthened expression of KTR's own claim to being the first domestic testing institution to establish such a standard.

KTR said it plans to continue expanding the certification program.

While the claim of a domestic first is slightly broader than the institute's stated milestone as the first among Korean testing institutions, the core facts stand, making the overall claim Mostly True.