Consumer product standards

Safety and quality of consumer products is a rising concern. With increasingly global production and procurement, supply chains are longer and more complex. It increases the risk of incidents and adds unnecessary costs to the supply chain. In a market that has been dominated by second party schemes, there is a clear move toward recognized global standards and third-party certification.

Certification to consumer product standards is applicable to any company. Products covered include:

• Personal care and household products. I.e. formulated and fabricated products which typically have higher hygiene requirements due to the nature and usage of products. Examples include cosmetics, toiletries, personal care items, and household chemicals and cleaners.
• General merchandise products. I.e. mainly fabricated products where management of the production process to ensure quality and safety of the products is of primary concern. Examples include electrical equipment, toys, furniture, textiles and jewellery.

Benefits:

Companies managing quality, safety and legal requirements from the start:

• Better protect their brand and customers
• Gain greater brand confidence when applying and getting certified to globally recognized schemes
• Enable faster time to market as certification allows faster procurement from new suppliers
• Reduce the audit burden when applying globally recognized industry standards
• Manage supply chain risk and drive continual improvement

Available standards:

Two of the certifiable standards for consumers products are:

• HPC 420: Global Safety and Quality Management System Standard for Home, Laundry and Personal Care Products
• The two BRCGS Consumer Product Standards, issue 4:
  
  • Personal care and households
  • General merchandise
• IFS HPC standard for household and personal care products