From a manufacturer's perspective, product compliance may seem like a hassle. It can be costly, require a lot of work, and call for an understanding of a field in which many feel over their heads. It’s easy to see why manufacturers could be more eager to devote resources to functions that more directly affect the bottom line. That being said, compliance is necessary to legally sell or manufacture goods in a given region. Beyond that, practicing compliance is a important for several other reasons:
First and foremost, product compliance regulations exist to ensure human safety. This not only includes the safety of consumers of the final product, but also the safety of your employees, employees downstream in the supply chain, and whoever will deal with the product at the end of its useful life. Many substances that fall under regulation by CA Prop 65, SCIP, and REACH do so because they have been deemed to have ill effects on human health. Regulation mitigates some of the risk associated with harmful chemicals and incentivizes their replacement with others that are more innocuous.
It's important to note that compliance does not guarantee safety. This is especially true when products are used outside of their intended purpose or are processed at the end of their useful life. The increased prevalence of the circular economy has driven more products to be recycled and created a heightened need for product detoxification. If materials are to be continuously recycled, any toxins linked to them will be recycled as well.
The parallels between human health and environmental health are well documented. Healthier environments are highly associated with healthier people. For this reason, among many others, regulation of environmentally destructive chemicals is important. On top of that, many of the chemicals that fall under regulation are as bad for the environment as they are for human health. Even those that do not adversely affect humans can trickle through the ecosystem to cause later harm. Once they have been released into the environment, toxic chemicals are extremely difficult to contain. Regulation of chemicals known to be environmentally harmful not only contributes to human safety, it also seeks to quell rates of environmental degradation.
Because compliance mitigates some of the safety and environmental risks described above, some of the legal risk associated with the potential for damages is also mitigated. Regulatory compliance not only lowers the risk of fines and liability due to failure to comply, it also creates a safer product. This mitigates risks associated with health and environmental externalities.
Brand risk is risk to the value of a brand. This would often come on the tailwinds of a negative event or discovery and result in adverse popular fallout from media and consumers. Everyone can recall a company that has been publicly outed for environmental damages, unethical practices, or poor labor conditions. Brand risk poses such a great threat to companies and their suppliers because the economic impact of the fallout has the potential to be much greater than the cost of fines, cleanups, or recalls.
Over 3,000 users, from startups to Fortune 500 companies are already managing compliance through Toxnot. Toxnot’s cloud-based software streamlines chemical compliance for businesses operating in a wide variety of industries. We'll help you get a head start on all product compliance trends company's are implementing. Start achieving your compliance goals today! It's as simple as signing up for Toxnot for free.
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Our compliance trends download shares how to help you drive major changes in your approach to product compliance.