Help and enquiries

A list of IFRA members can be found on the Membership webpage. These include the FRA’s Regular and Supporting members.

Please contact the relevant IFRA National Association for information on fragrance houses in a particular country which are member of that National Association.

Members of IFRA National Associations can request a letter to confirm their affiliation to IFRA and their adherence to the IFRA Code of Practice and the IFRA Standards. They can send their request via the contact form on this website.

IFRA cannot provide such letter to non-IFRA members.

There are several official courses for perfumery in the world and consequently it can be a difficult industry to break into it so we suggest to do an own online search.

Some examples are:

• Institute Supérieur International du Parfum de la Cosmétique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire (ISIPCA), located in Versailles, France. This most renowned independent school of perfumery institute runs a range of courses related to the fragrance industry from perfumery to evaluation and marketing.
• Grasse Institute of Perfumery (GIP), founded by the IFRA National Association in France, Prodarom. GIP is a prestigious school located in Grasse, France.
• Some perfumery schools are run privately by some of the large fragrance houses and are used to train future employees.
• International Centre for Aroma Trade Studies (ICATS) is an organization that exists to provide flexible quality learning to professionals and aspiring those professionals in the Aroma Trades, Perfumery and Flavor industries. ICATS offers the IFEAT Graduate Diploma or Certificate accredited by the International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades (IFEAT).

IFRA does not provide perfumery courses.

The IFRA Transparency List is the​‘perfumer’s palette’ – an overview of the ingredients used to create fragrance mixtures employed by consumer goods companies in personal care products, home care products and fine fragrance worldwide.

The IFRA Transparency List is based on reporting anonymous and confidentially provided by IFRA Members in the ​‘Volume of Use Survey’, which is compiled every five years.

For the principal name of the ingredients, the RIFM Principal name is the most ​“commonly known by” synonym though they may also be some chemical or INCI names.

The current List includes a new, more refined nomenclature system for natural products. These products can have various geographical origins, be extracted via different processes, and come from different parts of the plant.

We therefore employ a system that provides greater detail and transparency than the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number system.

As stated by the IFRA NCS taskforce document date 23 January 2025, there is a common perception that ​“natural” holds particular significance, prompting the fragrance industry to address the need for a clear definition of what constitutes a natural fragrance ingredient.

In the dictionary, the term ​“natural” is defined as existing in or derived by nature. It is important to stress that within the fragrance industry, there is no official definition and that ​“natural” can be defined in different ways depending, for instance, upon the geographical area. Each consumer product manufacturer is ultimately responsible for the way in which the consumer product is described or promoted.

In cases where the manufacturer does not give clear instructions and guidelines to its fragrance supplier, the fragrance supplier can use the following definition and positions supported by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA):

1. . Only aromatic raw materials matching with the terms and definitions laid down in the ISO 92351 can be used in fragrance mixtures claimed as ​“natural”. Note: this can include raw materials further sub-categorized (e.g., 2.1.2 Absolute x‑less) and supplementary categories added based on expert review (e.g., 2.54 Solvent extraction of distillation water). The complete list of terms is available on the IFRA website.
2. Examples of raw materials that cannot be used in fragrance mixtures claimed as ​“natural” are synthetic molecules, reconstituted essential oils involving the addition of synthetic molecules and chemically modified natural raw materials (e.g., acetylated vetiver oil).
3. The production method of certain natural ingredients and the stability of such ingredients may require the addition of synthetic ingredients (e.g., solvents). This is further defined by IFRA, so that the consumer product manufacturer may determine if the naturalness criteria are met:
   1. • Small quantities of antioxidants or preservatives may be added to protect aromatic natural raw materials (as defined in the ISO 9235)
      from degradation.
   2. • In cases where synthetic solvents are used for production process reasons, they should be removed to the greatest possible extent per GMP requirements
   3. • In cases where dilution solvents are used in the fragrance mixture claimed as ​“natural”, it is required to use dilution solvents coming exclusively from biological sources (bio-sourced ingredients and not petrochemical sources).

IFRA does not issue Certificates of Conformity for the use of the IFRA Standards or any other form of certification, and no certifying company is authorized to provide Certificates of Conformity on behalf of IFRA. Therefore, it is unauthorized to make any statements regarding IFRA certification that could be misleading. Furthermore, the IFRA Bylaws and our branding guidelines clearly state that ​“no company may use the IFRA logo without prior written authorization”.

In addition, the IFRA Bylaws and IFRA brand guidelines prohibit the use of the logo in any way that implies IFRA certifies individual products, raw materials, or formulations. IFRA does not certify products or grant licenses for promotional use of its name or logo. Any such implication is misleading to consumers and the marketplace”.