The first production line of organic cosmetics in the country was inaugurated at the Organic Hygiene and Cosmetic Division, at Dr. Abidi Cosmetic Company (a leading pharmaceutical firm in Iran) in Tehran on Monday.
“Organic and natural products are becoming popular globally, and we must support the industry by providing leeway for its operations and allow the private sector to nip abusive and illegal practices in the bud,” said Rasoul Dinarvand, head of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on the sidelines of the opening, IRNA reported.
The line was launched with an initial budget of $605,000 (20 billion rials) and has the capacity to produce 20,000 tubes of organic cream per day, according to Ali Naghib, company’s managing director and member of the Iranian Association of Detergent, Hygienic and Cosmetics Industry.
The plant started operating on a 3,000 tubes per day basis and is set to reach the target capacity soon. It was designed and implemented according to the international standards. The plant’s first certified organic product was given a BDIH seal of approval from COSMOS - a standard developed at the European level by BDIH (Germany), BIOFORUM (Belgium), COSMEBIO & ECOCERT (France), ICEA (Italy) and SOIL ASSOCIATION (UK) to define minimum requirements and common definitions for organic and/or natural cosmetics.
“The product is a face cream formulated entirely with herbs,” Dinarvand said, adding that boosting domestic production of organic goods can provide employment other than meeting market demand.
Health Awareness
The division is also active in terms of health education and promotion when it comes to “what people eat or use on a daily basis,” and is aiming to expand its domain to more natural and organic products, including specific lines for babies and young children, says their website.
Naghib said manufacturing of organic products is a national need given that “per capita expenditure on cosmetic products is extremely high in Iran.” So far the demand has been met with legal and, more often than not, illegal imports.
“We are trying to meet a part of the domestic demand by offering our products at prices one-fourth of similar European brands,” he said. The face cream required 23 different kinds of raw materials, all of which were imported.
Currently, Iran is way behind the global average in manufacturing hygiene and cosmetic products and to remedy that, the required agricultural infrastructure and processing technology must be developed, Naghib stressed.
Domestic production of organic products is in line with the ‘economy of resistance’ – a policy proposed by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to promote domestic growth – and creating authentic national brands will lower the share of contraband in the country and increase wealth creation, ISNA cited Dinarvand as saying.
