GMP vs ISO 22716 vs AYUSH License: What Personal Care Brands Need to Know

Ask three Indian personal care manufacturers whether they are 'certified' and you'll get three different answers — GMP, ISO 22716, AYUSH, sometimes all three, sometimes with letters swapped around. For brand owners, the practical question isn't which sounds most impressive; it's which certificate actually answers which question in which market. This explainer breaks down what each certification really covers and where each becomes non-negotiable.

GMP — the manufacturing-practice baseline

'GMP' stands for Good Manufacturing Practices. In the Indian cosmetic and Ayurvedic context, GMP certification is issued by the state Drug Controller (or the state AYUSH department for Ayurvedic products) after an on-site inspection. It certifies that the facility operates according to the applicable schedule of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act — clean room classification, personnel hygiene, batch documentation, raw material handling, in-process controls and finished-goods testing.

GMP is the domestic baseline. Without it, a manufacturer cannot legally produce cosmetic or Ayurvedic products for sale in India. It answers the question: 'Is this facility operating to Indian regulatory standards?'

ISO 22716 — cosmetics-specific GMP for export

ISO 22716 is the internationally recognised Good Manufacturing Practices standard specifically for cosmetics. It was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and is aligned with the requirements referenced by EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC 1223/2009) and adopted or accepted by many other export markets.

Where domestic GMP is issued by an Indian regulator, ISO 22716 is granted by an accredited third-party certification body after audit. It answers a different question: 'Does this facility meet the internationally recognised cosmetics GMP standard that overseas regulators and retailers expect?' For any brand planning to export cosmetics — especially to the EU, UK, Middle East or Southeast Asia — ISO 22716 on the manufacturer's side removes an enormous amount of friction from the destination-country documentation process.

AYUSH license — the product classification, not just the facility

The AYUSH manufacturing license is granted under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act by the state AYUSH department. Critically, it is a product-and-facility license: the licensed manufacturer receives a formal permission to manufacture specific Ayurvedic formulations at a specific address, using a specific list of ingredients drawn from recognised classical texts or approved proprietary formulations.

If a brand wants to market a product as Ayurvedic — using terms like 'Ayurvedic hair oil,' 'Ayurvedic ubtan' or classical formulation names — the manufacturer must hold a valid AYUSH license covering that product category. A pure cosmetics license alone does not permit Ayurvedic classification. This one gets skipped surprisingly often; brands then discover after launch that they cannot legally claim what their packaging already says.

Which one do you actually need?

Selling cosmetics in India only

GMP from the state Drug Controller is the baseline requirement. ISO 22716 is a plus for large retailers and modern-trade audits, but not legally required.

Selling Ayurvedic personal care in India

The manufacturer must hold an AYUSH manufacturing license covering the specific product category, in addition to GMP. Without the AYUSH license, marketing the product as Ayurvedic is not permitted regardless of the ingredient list.

Exporting personal care from India

ISO 22716 on the manufacturer's side is the single biggest paperwork accelerator, in addition to whatever domestic GMP / AYUSH is needed for the product category. Destination-country requirements (Free Sale Certificate, apostilled COA, country-specific labelling, product notification) sit on top of this baseline.

How to verify what a manufacturer actually holds

1. Ask for certificate numbers and issuing authority in writing, not just a logo on the website.
2. Check the expiry date — GMP and AYUSH licenses are renewable and lapse if not maintained.
3. For AYUSH, confirm the license covers the specific product category (hair oil, face wash, soap) you plan to launch.
4. For ISO 22716, ask which accredited certification body issued it and request a scan of the current certificate.
5. Cross-check that the address on all three certificates matches the address that will appear on your batch documents.

The takeaway

GMP proves the facility runs to Indian regulatory standards. ISO 22716 proves it runs to the internationally recognised cosmetics standard. The AYUSH license proves the manufacturer is legally permitted to make and label your product as Ayurvedic. They are complementary, not interchangeable — a manufacturer serving serious brands should hold all three, with current certificate numbers they are happy to share on request.