PPB January 2017

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58 | JANUARY 2017 |
GROW
Compliance with
manufacturing standards
continues to be a hot topic for the
promotional products industry.
It is regularly on the agenda at
industry-sponsored training and
education forums and written
about by our industry media.
As the industry’s first and
only third-party validated
compliance accreditation
organization, the Quality
Certification Alliance (QCA)
frequently receives inquiries
from industry professionals
concerned about standards,
standards-development
bodies and industry self-
regulation. Confusion and
misunderstandings often reside
at the core of these questions.
As industry peers, we would
like to address some of the more
common points raised:
• Why would an industry be
satisfied with self-regulation?
• Does self-regulation really
make an industry more
compliant and disciplined?
• What does a standards
organization do?
• Is QCA a standards
development organization?
• Some have implied that QCA
appears to be intended for
large industry companies only.
• Why is QCA structured the
way it is?
• How can the board of a
nonprofit entity be made
up of for-profit industry
companies and not have anti-
competitive designs?
• Does an industry of our
size really need third-party
solutions like QCA?
Industry Practices That
Became “Standard”
The very essence of a
standards organization is to
make life easier, safer and
improve overall efficiency.
Industry-based standards
organizations have long existed.
Some standards provide
compatibility for improving
the utility of a product, while
others establish management
practices that positively affect
consumer safety, port security
and environmental issues.
Whether product or process,
industry standards are simply
best practices.
Best practices are, by their
nature, voluntary. When an
industry best practice gains
momentum, frequently the
government or the market
will adopt those best practices
as standards.
Examples of industry-based
standards that have gained
acceptance in law and the
market include:
ASTM F-963
Originally defined by the
Toy Industry of America, this
standard is now embodied in
U.S. law as a component of
the Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act of 2008.
FLA Labor Standards
An outgrowth from a White
House-sponsored initiative, the
Apparel Industry Partnership
(AIP) is a roundtable comprised
of a handful of large apparel
labels, non-governmental
organizations and college
students addressing concerns for
labor rights in a manufacturing
setting. QCA benchmarked its
social accountability standards
and audit processes with FLA
in 2015.
Defining Risk For
The Promotional
Products Industry
by D E Fenton and
Tim Brown, MAS
From Best Practices
To Industry Standards
BEST
PRACTICES
The very essence
of a standards
organization is to
make life easier,
safer and improve
overall efficiency.