Quality Assurance & Accreditations
How does Intelipac guarantee that what we sell you is 100% organic?
Intelipac’s cotton manufacturing sites in India source organic cotton that meets with the organic audit standards set by the Control Union (NL). This is a Netherlands based organization set up by the Dutch government in 1985 to follow EU Regulation 2092/91. The Control Union continues to operate independently with the responsibility of supervising the organic farming industry as well and the import, storage and trade of produce – including our cotton.
What this means in practice is that SKAL/Control Union will audit the cotton from its original grower on to the spinner, then to the weaver and finally at the manufacturing site (ours in India). This will ensure that the cotton is 100% organic and there is no interference with the supply chain to cut corners or include any non-organic cotton in what we produce.
1. Fairtrade Licensees: Cotton Bags
 |
In January 2008 Intelipac achieved the status of ‘Licensee’ for the production of cotton bags. This means that we follow the standards set out by the Fairtrade Foundation. Intelipac supplies all of the new ASDA cotton shopping bags for life that have recently changed from organic sourced to Fairtrade sourced. More details about this accreditation, our status as a Licensee and the associated processes to protect farmers can be found at www.fairtrade.org.uk. |
3. Ethical trading
 |
A particularly important set of standards observed by Intelipac, which itself is directly accredited is the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI).
We also work with our factories to the standards set out under the BRC (British Retail Consortium) IOP (Institute Of Packaging) standard for all solutions we provide to our UK customers. |
Intelipac is also a member of SEDEX the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange. SEDEX is a membership organization set up for businesses to ensure that ethical trading occurs at all levels. More can be found about the above organizations at the following web sites:
4. Customer Audits
|
Intelipac provides a range of cotton, Jute, paper and plastic packaging products to TESCO, ASDA and Marks & Spencer, to name just the key clients on a global scale. This includes the stringent technical audits in particular of Tesco and most recently the M&S ‘Plan A’ audits which lay down a very environmentally friendly and strong ethical supply chain standard.
Intelipac always welcomes new or prospective customers to visit any or all of our sites throughout Europe, Egypt, India, Taiwan, China, Thailand and Vietnam in order to conduct their own audits and indeed to see the state of the art facilities that we work with. |
Intelipac is a Licensee of Fairtrade for the supply of cotton bags. We are also members of SEDEX where we ensure all of our manufacturing sites in Europe, India, China, Singapore and Vietnam are up to date members.
Our cotton manufacturing sites in India are amongst the few that can provide a fully auditable trail of certification for every cotton component within our solutions that allows us to mark bags as 100% organic – under the remit of the Netherlands based Control Union.
 |
For more information about Intelipac or any of its partners or solutions,
please contact us on +44 (0)1942 712500. |
|
|
Organic explained
Organic systems recognise that our health is directly connected to the food we eat and, ultimately, the health of the soil.
Organic farmers aim to produce crops from a balanced living soil. Strict regulations define what farmers can and can't do. They place strong emphasis on protecting the environment.
Organic farmers use crop rotations to make the soil more fertile. For example, a farmer might graze sheep on a field one year, making the soil more fertile, then plant wheat the next and so on.
They can't grow genetically modified crops and can only use - as a last resort - seven of the hundreds of pesticides available to farmers (the Soil Association, however, only allow four of these).
Parasite problems in farm animals are controlled through regularly moving the animals to fresh pasture and other preventative methods, rather than routinely dosing the animals with drugs.
Here are some of organic farming's main features:
- Organic farming severely restricts the use of artificial chemical fertilizers and pesticides
- Instead, organic farmers rely on developing a healthy, fertile soil and growing a mixture of crops
- Animals are reared without the routine use of drugs, antibiotics and wormers common in intensive livestock farming
The word organic is defined by law. Any food labeled organic must meet a strict set of standards. Look for the Soil Association symbol for your guarantee of the highest organic standards.
Source: The Soil Association. |
|
