Vegan Certification in Cosmetics: Which Body Actually Carries Weight

In most jurisdictions the word "vegan" on a cosmetic pack is not a regulated term. It can be printed without anyone's permission, so the weight sits not in the word but in the document behind it: who issued it, for which products exactly, and until when.

For a buyer taking a shipment onto their own market this is not a question of ideology but of whether the claim can be verified. Retailers and marketplaces increasingly ask for proof, and in advertising an unprovable claim becomes a risk.

V-Label and national schemes: the difference

V-Label is a mark of European origin, issued by authorised organisations in different countries. Korean manufacturers most often obtain it through a European holder of the mark, for example V-Label Italia with approval from the Italian Vegetarian Association (Associazione Vegetariana Italiana). The mark is recognised in Europe, which for an importer means an EU customer does not need it explained.

National schemes work differently. Korea runs its own vegan certification, including KIVAC, and on the domestic market it is accepted without question. Outside Korea recognition is lower, so European or American retail will most likely ask for further explanation. The point is not that the Korean mark is weaker in substance; the point is that it works less well as a commercial argument abroad.

Product-by-product registration: number and expiry

A strong vegan certificate is issued not to a brand as a whole but to specific products, each listed in an annex under its own reference number. The certificate has a validity period, after which it has to be renewed. A document like this is verifiable: the number lets you match the item, the date lets you see whether it is still in force.

The weak version looks like a single mark applied to an entire catalogue, with no annex and no dates. It may formally rest on real certification, but there is no way to check whether the specific item you are ordering is inside its scope. Ask for a scan of the full certificate with the product list, not a picture of the logo.

Why a blanket "vegan" tick in a price list misleads

In price lists the vegan mark is usually set as a column against an entire line. Yet within one brand different lines are often certified by different bodies, and individual items are not certified at all, for instance because of an animal-derived component in the formula. The column does not show any of this.

For a buyer the difference is practical. If you carry the tick from the price list across to a product page on your own market, responsibility for the claim rests with you, not with the manufacturer. In the EU and the United States a claim on the pack has to be backed by a document, and the request usually lands with the importer.

An example from our showcase. According to CAYCLLY, its skincare line is certified under the Italian V-Label: seven products are listed individually under reference numbers 1771 to 1777/2024 C-KR, valid to 20 March 2027. Hair and body care carry Korean certification instead, KIVAC in the case of the shampoo. One item in the hair line, the Beer Yeast Collagen Treatment, carries no vegan mark at all. The company itself describes domestic Korean certification as strong at home and less recognised abroad, which is why the marks are named separately in the profile rather than merged into one badge.

What certification actually checks

Vegan schemes check the formula first of all: the absence of animal-derived components and their derivatives. Conditions on animal testing, on materials from subcontractors and on the production line differ from scheme to scheme, so "vegan" and "cruelty free" are not synonyms and are evidenced by different documents.

If both claims matter for your market, request them separately. Merging them into one badge on a product page is a poor idea: this is exactly the case where a complaint reaches the seller rather than the manufacturer.

What to request from a supplier

A short list: a scan of the full certificate, the name of the issuing body, the product list with reference numbers, the expiry date, and direct confirmation for the specific items you are ordering. Ask separately what to do with items that hold no certificate, so they do not end up in a vegan selection by mistake.

Teranova names marks by certifying body rather than merging them into one logo, and requests copies of the documents at the deal stage. It is dull work, but it removes the most common risk in this category for a buyer: a claim with nothing behind it.