As the business world gets to be more regulated than before the attainment of some accreditations like the LMPC (Legal Metrology Packaged Commodities) Certification becomes a must have for organizations involved with pre packed products. The LMPC Certification guarantees compliance with the legal standards of weight, measure, and labelling of packaged products and other factors that should be in the interest of the consumer to safeguard. However, getting around through the LMPC Certification process can be very rigorous. This blog discusses ideas on how to optimise LMPC Certification and provides information and opinions that can assist those going through the process towards compliance.
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LMPC Certification is a mandatory legal requirement in India as per the Legal Metrology Act of the year 2009. It applies to all types of pre-packed goods irrespective of the food sector with regard to several aspects like labelling & packaging, weight & measure. The aim is to safeguard consumers’ interests by having the information given to the buyer on the packaging of a particular product being correct and not misleading. Failure to conform to the regulations attracts some penalties like fines and imprisonment hence the need for LMPC Certification to be an integral part of the manufacturing, importing and packing business.
Before delving into how to streamline the LMPC Certification process, it is essential to understand the common challenges businesses face:
1. Complex Regulatory Requirements: This is due to the fact that the Legal Metrology Act is extensive and comprehensive, making it difficult for the firm to read and comprehend all of its requirements.
2. Documentation: A lot of paperwork is involved, which tends to include proof of business registration, details of the product, packaging detail and many others.
3. Time-Consuming Process: This process has the disadvantage of taking a long time to be approved and may slow down the introduction of products in the market hence affecting its competitiveness.
4. Risk of Non-Compliance: Any mistake can lead to infringement of the law hence attracting penalties and loss of reputation in merits of business.
Looking at the same, there is a need to follow Legal Metrology Certification in a better way that uses relevant data for the said process. A recent survey conducted by a regulatory compliance firm reported that 67% of firms experienced delay of LMPC Certification as a result of missing or erroneous information. In addition, 45% of companies noted difficulties in interpreting the regulations with significant numbers of errors and omissions being made by them when completing their applications.
The above statistics point to the fact that there is a need for a well informed and absorbed process in conducting LMPC Registration. It also found that those businesses which have taken proper time and effort to understand the legal requirements set out under the legal metrology act and have prepared proper documents supporting their applications would be in a better position to obtain their legal metrology certificate within the stipulated time without incurring high costs that come along with penalties if the activities or businesses are delayed.
Before going through the processes of getting Legal Metrology Certification have a conduct a regulatory compliance assessment of your business activities. It is also important that this audit embraces every process involved in product packaging, labelling, weight and measurements. The key reason for this is to determine possible loopholes in your business that can make it fail to meet the Legal Metrology Act.
Since the LMPC Certification process is quite complex, most of the difficulties come from the ignorance of the regulations & understanding business with LMPC expertise and allocation of resources towards training your team of compliance will go a long way in minimizing mistakes that may occur with your application. Make sure your employees are familiar with The Legal Metrology Act as well as Measure standards in your line of business.
With the advancement in technology, this certification process can be made much easier by use of a computer. You should use compliance management software to assist you keep records on all the certification processes beginning with documentations and up to submission and monitoring. These tools can also let you know when an assignment is due and also make sure that all paperwork is done correctly.
Since the LMPC Certification process is marred with certain issues, hiring an expert LMPC consultant like LegalRaasta can prove to be pretty beneficial. These experts can help you in every step of the way to make sure that your application is fine and follows all the rules and regulations. They can also give you an outlook to some potential problem and how it can be solved.
This is because of insufficient documentation or probably inaccurate records that help to slow down the LMPC Certification process. therefore commendable to ensure that all the documents required are well completed and enclosed when applying & customer relationship management with LMPC and this includes business registration documents such as business registration certificates, details of products such as product specifications, Packing information and any other document as may be required.
This may involve calling or writing to the regulatory authorities that oversee LMPC Certification where one can get abreast with any changes that may be made on the requirements or the whole exercise. It also enables you to ask questions on any questions or problems that you encounter while using the application.
Systematic LMPC Certification does not equal acquiring of the certificate, it equals to future success of your business. Legal Metrology best practices enable customers to have confidence in your products hence leading to better brand image and reduced legal repercussions. Also, the companies that have policies that focus on compliance as a key value are more apt to obtain sustainable growth and profitability in the existing cut throat market.
If well managed, in other words if the right strategic and useful tools are adopted in the LMPC Certification process then the process becomes very manageable. Hence, the following strategies help businesses deal with the LMPC Registration: Regulatory compliance audit, spending on training, compliance management software, professional consultant, Documentations, and communication with the regulators.
As I have mentioned earlier on, getting an LMPC Certification is not just a regulatory requirement but a way of gaining trust and confidence from your customers, creating a positive brand image and an indication of a company that is following good corporate practice and a one that is headed to a better future & exports business with LMPC implementing a best practice approach to your certification programme means that you can minimize costly overruns and penalties that may preclude you from launching certified products to market on time, let alone to the standard required by law.