What a label has to carryParticulars read at goods-in
A cosmetic unit sold in the United Kingdom has to carry a fixed set of particulars on the container, and some of them may sit on the outer packaging instead. The list is not a matter of house style: it is what the label is read against at goods-in, and a unit missing one of them is a unit that cannot go to a facing.
What follows is that list, drawn and then tabulated, together with what this office does and does not check.
The particulars, pinned on a pack
| Pin | Particular | Form on the pack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Responsible person | A name and an address inside the United Kingdom, legible without magnification |
| 2 | Nominal content | Weight or volume at the time of packing, with the estimated sign where it is used |
| 3 | Country of origin | Required where the goods are imported, in the form imported from a named country |
| 4 | Durability or period after opening | A date where the stated life is 30 months or less; a period in months where it is longer |
| 5 | Batch number | Any form, provided it also appears on the outer and ties back to a goods-in record |
| 6 | Function | Needed unless it is already obvious from the way the unit is presented |
| 7 | Ingredients | A list under the heading Ingredients, in descending order, in the international naming |
| 8 | Particular precautions | In words on the pack, or by the hand-and-book symbol pointing to an enclosed leaflet |
| 9 | Open-jar symbol | The symbol that carries the period after opening, where a date is not used |
Pins 1, 2 and 5 are the three that decide whether a unit can be received at all. Without a responsible person there is nobody to refer a question to; without a nominal content the row on the specification sheet cannot be filled in; and without a batch number the unit cannot be traced in either direction, which makes every other field on it unverifiable.
Container, packaging, and what may move between them
| Ref | Case | Where it may sit |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | Unit sold inside a printed carton | Most particulars may be on the carton, but content and durability stay readable on the container itself |
| P2 | Unit too small for the ingredient list | The list may sit on an enclosed leaflet, pointed to by the hand-and-book symbol |
| P3 | Unit sold loose from a display outer | Everything has to be on the unit, because the outer does not go to the shopper |
| P4 | Multi-unit gift pack | Each unit inside carries its own particulars; the pack carries its own content statement |
P3 is the one that catches a specialised store out, because a display outer that looks like part of the fixture is still an outer, and the units taken out of it are sold on their own. A line specified for a dump bin therefore has to carry the full set on each unit, and that is a question asked when the row is written rather than when the bin arrives.
What this office checks, and what it does not
| Ref | Checked here | Not checked here |
|---|---|---|
| K1 | That each particular is present on the unit | Whether the statements in them are correct |
| K2 | That it is legible without magnification | Whether the product information file behind it is complete |
| K3 | That the batch on the unit matches the outer | Anything about how the goods were made |
| K4 | That the durability form matches the stated life | Whether the stated life itself is supported |
The right-hand column is as important as the left. This office receives, holds, splits and despatches goods: it does not assess a product information file, it issues no approval of any kind, and nothing on this site should be read as one. Where a particular is missing or unreadable, what happens is narrow and procedural — the quantity is written on the goods-in record, the units are held out of the bay, and the question goes back up the line to whoever is named in pin 1.