Benefits of Product Certification
The USDA Certified Biobased Product label is designed to help purchasers and consumers identify products with biobased content and to assure them of the accuracy of this content. In addition, this certification label is designed to increase awareness of the existence and importance of biobased products.
USDA Certified Biobased Products are listed in the BioPreferred® Program Catalog, providing a marketing avenue to inform consumers. The USDA Certified Biobased Product label can also help federal government purchasers locate biobased products for which they have purchasing requirements.
Certification Criteria
After products have gone through an initial screening by the USDA, products undergo third-party testing using ASTM D6866 to determine the percent biobased content. ASTM D6866 is an analytical method that quantifies a product’s percent biobased content. ASTM D6866 does not consider inorganic carbon or other non-carbon containing substances when measuring biobased content.
For USDA Certified Biobased Products that contain inorganic carbon or other non-carbon containing substances, it is recommended that the certification holder qualify the percentage of these excluded compounds on the product’s packaging. Please refer to page 22 of the Brand Guidelines and Graphic Standards for the USDA BioPreferred® Program.
Biobased products that may be identified within a USDA defined product category must meet or exceed the minimum biobased content requirement for that particular product category. Products that do not fall within a defined product category must contain at least 30% biobased content; however, label applicants may propose an alternative minimum biobased content requirement to the USDA. Please note that the 30% minimum biobased content will be reviewed by USDA at a future date.
Applying for Certification
Manufacturers and distributors of biobased products, as well as entities who incorporate biobased intermediates into another product, may apply for the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label. An overview of the application process is available for download.
To apply for a label for a product:
Create a Login.gov Account
If you do not already have one, you must create a login.gov account, which provides a proven security process for accessing the BioPreferred Program’s Company Tools. To do so, first select the “Create Login.gov Account” link below, then select “Customer”, “Need an Account”, “Continue to login.gov”, “Create an account,” and follow the prompts to create a user account. For complete instructions on creating a user account, please refer to the Company Access Tutorial.Enter Company and Product Information
Use your login.gov account to log in through the Company Tools portal. Once you have logged in to Company Tools, you can register your company or request access to an existing company account. From your company account in Company Tools, you can initiate an application for the USDA Certified Biobased Product label, download labels for certified products, and complete other functions.
Applicants should not test their products for biobased content via ASTM D6866 until they have been advised to do so by Program staff. Results from biobased content testing that are conducted outside of the certification process will not be considered valid for certification applications.