Product
Responsibility
Product Information and LabellingITC, as a
responsible corporate citizen, complies fully with all relevant statutory regulations and
legislation pertaining to product information and labeling. In view of the diverse nature
of ITC businesses, the policy, procedures, management systems & compliance mechanisms
for each business vary.
The FMCG-Cigarettes Business
complies fully with the following Acts :
•
Weights & Measures Act
•
Cigarettes Act, 1975
•
Central Excise & Customs Act
•
COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act)
The Business has provisions in place to
ensure validation of the product with respect to all relevant statutes prior to commercial
launch. The product development process, based on Six Sigma methodologies, envisages a
formal check of all product-related statutory compliance, before finalisation of the
product specifications and design. A rigorous Quality Management system at all stages of
manufacturing ensures meticulous adherence to product design. The Business also has a
system in place for monthly review and confirmation of compliance to all statutes by
operating managers. This confirmation is communicated to the Corporate Management
Committee.
In the Leaf Tobacco
Business all the products are labeled to meet customer specifications. Labels
normally contain information about the Grade, Crop Year, Weight, Lot No., date and the
location where the product was packaged and in certain cases, the destination and the
customer that the product was intended for. All the packages are bar-coded. The products
scrupulously conform to the prescribed chemistry (Sugars, Nicotine, Chloride, etc.),
Particle Size Distribution, Stem Content; and the Packing (Moisture and Temperature)
requirements of the customer. The protocols for testing and tolerances are specified by
the customer. The manufacturing units at Anaparti and Chirala are ISO 9002 certified. The
Quality Procedures for the above parameters are clearly enunciated in ISO 9002 manual. The
Units have advanced systems to monitor strict adherence to process and packing
specifications laid down by the customers. In addition to providing information, samples
from the final packages are sent to Customers for cross-verification in their
laboratories.
In the Paperboards
& Specialty Papers Business information about the product, covering relevant
technical parameters, is documented in the product specification sheet. These are
finalised with the customers at the ordering stage. Quality Assurance Certificates are
issued for the consignments on request from customers. The information mentioned in the
label on the product pack consists of the name, substance (gsm), size, weight, lot number
and date of manufacture. A bar code is also provided.
In the Hotel
Business, the Company does not produce and sell any packaged products. There is no
labeling (except brand display) on products. However, product information regarding Rooms
and Food & Beverages is communicated through brochures, in-room literature and the
website.
Customer Safety is of prime
concern to all ITC Businesses
Various operating policies, systems and control mechanisms are embedded in each business
to ensure delivery of a quality product consistently to the consumer.
In the FMCG-Cigarettes
Business, ITC ensures adherence to statutes and begins benchmarking to ‘best
in class’ practices at the product design and development stage itself.
Identification and choice of raw materials is preceded by a rigorous validation of
conformity to exacting product specifications, including consultation with the Additives
and Materials Guidance Panel (AMGP). ITC’s manufacturing facilities are
state-of-the-art. New generation machines and computer-controlled process equipment ensure
product quality and consistency. These machines have facilities for online detection,
multiple checks during different stages of the manufacturing process and rejection of
products and batches that do not conform to specifications. The manufacturing processes
are subjected to stringent statistical process control systems and online quality
management systems to ensure that products manufactured strictly conform to
specifications. An internationally acclaimed Product Quality Rating System (PQRS) has been
institutionalised in all manufacturing locations. All aspects of product quality are
measured at every stage of the manufacturing process to ensure the highest standards.
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