By Jack Ng, Senior Product Labelling Specialist, VF Corporation, VF Asia office, Hongkong – Kwun Tong
MANAGING GLOBAL PRODUCT LABELLING COMPLIANCE WFSGI CLR DB-project, a crucial step forward
Being active on a global market, following-up and monitoring all applicable regulatory requirements around product labelling is already a massive undertaking on its own to start. The correct interpretation of regulations and proper implementation of requirements are yet other major challenges. How did Multinational Corporations (MNC) like VF do the labelling before using the Compliance Labelling Requirement (CLR) Database? Due to the variety of products and coverage of markets, MNCs had to set up the different sets of labels to fulfil the various requirements. For example: one set for US/Canada, one set for member states of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and one set for the Asia Pacific (APAC) – however, an APAC label was never enough to cover China's requirements. VF creates its enterprise-specific product label manual. Moreover, the master table contains translations in 34 languages of the components of labels – care instructions, fibre and material name, sectional parts, country of origin, and product names. A central point of contact maintains the manuals and the master table. How do Smaller companies do the labelling? With less exposure, smaller companies have difficulties obtaining information regarding up-to-date labelling requirements. Smaller organizations rely on external advisors or third party laboratories when they need to solve problems with labels. Unfortunately, the risk of nonconformity still exists.
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Apparel and footwear products require precise labelling. VF requires follow-up of numerous regulations globally. VF Corporation joined WFSGI's Compliant Labelling Requirements (CLR) Database project. Together with other companies, WFSGI approached Compliance and Risks to develop and transform C&R's existing regulatory DB into a customized platform capable of delivering structured labelling instruction. The database was launched in 2018 and generates product labelling information in just a few clicks.
Jack Ng, Ho Wai is Senior Product Labelling Specialist at VF with 18 years of relevant industry experience. Central to VF supply chain, this role provides support and guidance on product labelling to all VF brands, sourcing and operational teams worldwide, ensuring the correct labelling of all apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment, compliant with all relevant labelling regulations worldwide.
WFSGI MAGAZINE 2020
