WELLINGTON, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand businesses involved in design, manufacture, and distribution have another product safety tool to draw on, with a new standard offered free for the first time to businesses, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said on Tuesday.
"The best way for businesses to ensure they sell safe products and to avoid a costly and time-consuming product safety recall, is to have a thorough product safety process in place," MBIE Trading Standards Team Leader Martin Rushton said in a statement.
The standard, called NZS ISO 10377:2017 Consumer Product Safety -- Guidelines for Suppliers, guides businesses on how to ensure every stage of the product lifecycle -- from product design, manufacturing, distribution, all the way to the shop shelf, Rushton said.
The standard is particularly ideal for New Zealand's small-to-medium sized businesses who might have limited resources and time, but still want to ensure their product-to-market processes are protecting consumers and their business, he said, adding that it has been tailored for New Zealand businesses and is compatible with mandatory standards that exist for specific products.
"Having strong safety processes in place reduces the risk to consumers, strengthens an organization's reputation and brand, and reduces the risk of product recalls," Rushton said.
"At a time when retail sales lift, Christmas is an excellent time to adopt the standard and let consumers know your products are a safe buy," he added.
