US Labeling you need to know for your product
Another question we get is of course US Product Labeling? How do we label for the US and what labels are to be used for the US market?
For the most part labeling comes in two forms Packaging and Product labeling. These are two very key points most companies do not think or forget to include in their costs.
Package Labeling
We get boxes into our warehouse all of the time from different companies around the world. 95% are on pallets and the other 5% are usually rush orders (when a company forgets to schedule far enough in advance their orders for clients…it happens) but all in the same your box packaging, not the product packaging is important. Most of our clients ask us to do two things to their boxes before shipping to individual stores.
Two things we do to increase US Brand recognition and US Package Labeling
- Unless you are sending us a box in English, then Repackage box with US lettering and not in foreign writing. It seems like a mute point but do you really want a shop owner, or worse an employee messing up your box, storing it in the corner because they cannot read the label or do not know what is in the box? We will repackage your box and have printed your label with US writing if that is an issue.
- Make the box labels colorful and in large print so they are readable. If you didn’t realize you usually have a box that is 60cmx90cmx60cm in size and you can make sure that your box stands out. Or if you would like to go the opposite and you do not want your competition to know your product we can get your product unmarked.
Product Labeling
This is very tricky sometimes for a foreign company and probably causes the most headaches. Some markets like Europe and some parts of the middle east have some pretty similar packaging rules but product labeling. We are going to talk mostly about food or FDA products in this section so if you have something that will not be consumed by humans or animals you can just skip tot he end.
Here is a three step process to US product labeling before you ship to the US.
- Any new product we first consult a labeling specialist (we have one on staff at WestWind) who determines based on FDA guidelines if your label meets US standards. For those of you interested the FDA has a great site to get you started http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm2006828.htm. It also lists some of the standards in chinese, hindi, spanish, arabic, and japanese. The labels in the US are changing as of 2018 so make sure you are ready, they need to be bigger as you can see here:
US FDA Label Changes by 2018
- If you are uncomfortable changing all the labeling on your product in your own country then think about having WestWind do the label change for you. We can re-design, print, and label each product for you so that your container of product isn’t shipping with labels that might not work. Our office is capable of printing up to 1000 individual labels per day and up to 6000 a week.
- If you have your label clearance, have the labels printed, and that is the only product in the container then we would recommend (you do not have to do this) but sending with your paperwork to Customs and Border Protection (US Import Agency) the label with your paperwork. It couldn’t hurt and would give the CBP information so that they might not even look at your shipment and just clear it through because you have taken the time to give them the correct label. This varies by product and you might not want a shipper having access to this so we usually have our customs broker at the port send it to the CBP just as an added measure of quality.
So if this was interesting to you and you might need to check your labels send us an email or give us a call. We would be happy to touch base and consult on your US Product Labeling and help get your product to the US market.
You also need to be aware of FDA labeling for; nutrition facts, nutrition data, food labels, fda approval, and any fda regulations
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