Certificates and policies

The IFS Household and Personal Care Standard is one of the International Featured Standards (IFS). This standard concerns the safety and quality of household and personal hygiene products and their production process.

Compliance with the requirements of the standard guarantees:

• conformity in terms of safety, product legality and legal requirements,
• increased confidence of customers and contractors, who find quality and product compliance a primary concern,
• the ability to expand cooperation with international retail chains.

BRC Global Standard – Consumer Products was developed by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The standard places particular emphasis on safety, quality, product legality and compliance with legal requirements for household and personal hygiene products. Similarly to IFS, HPC was developed to enable cooperation between international retail chains.

Compliance with the requirements of the BRC CP standard guarantees:

• conformity with requirements linked to safety, product legality and legal aspects,
• as consumers are able to trust the manufacturer, the company has a competitive edge when cooperating with retail chains,
• the ability to meet the requirements of business partners, which has a positive impact on access to international markets.

ISO 9001:2015 is a European standard outlining quality management systems in organisations.

Compliance with the requirements of this standard guarantees:

• high quality of products and services provided,
• the ability to repeatedly provide products and services that meet customer requirements,
• conformity with legal and regulatory requirements,
• fulfilment of the expectations and future needs of the market and customers.

By meeting the specifications of this standard, the company is able to continuously and safely improve the quality of its operations in a dynamic and complex environment.

ISO 14001:2015 is a European standard which specifies the requirements for an environmental management system in an organisation. This standard helps to determine the environmental impact of the company’s operations and enables it to plan and adjust its activities to reduce its detrimental environmental impact.

Compliance with the requirements of this standard ensures:

• effective management of environmental aspects leading to environmental and economic benefits,
• conformity with environmental and other legal provisions which the company is obliged to follow,
• effective achievement of the company’s strategic economic objectives while following suitable environmental protection guidelines,
• increased trust of environmentally conscious stakeholders,
• continuous environmental progress of the company.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC^®) is an international non-profit, multi-stakeholder organisation established in 1993 in Canada that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests via a certification system for forests and wood products, taking social, cultural, ecological and economic aspects into account.

PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification) is a leading global alliance of national forest certification systems which, as an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation has been promoting sustainable forest management via a certification system for forest and wood products since 1999.

The EU Ecolabel confirms the conformity with ecological criteria relating to:

• reducing energy consumption and related air emissions,
• limiting environmental damage by reducing emissions to water and quantities of generated waste,
• reducing environmental damage or risks related to the use of hazardous chemicals,
• ensuring the protection of forests by using raw material sourced from sustainably managed forests.

This means that products issued with the EU Ecolabel have a limited environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle (so-called LCA).
Workplace Health and Safety

ISO 45001:2018 is the first international harmonised standard pertaining to the Occupational Health and Safety Management System. It replaces other previously applicable standards determining the requirements for the OHS systems in companies. It ensures compatibility with the new issues of standards pertaining to the quality management (ISO 9001:2015) and environmental management (ISO 14001:2015).

Meeting the requirements of the standard:

• regulates issues related to the occupational health and safety;
• offers a basis for preventing accidents and occupational diseases;
• offers a guarantee for safe and healthy work places;
• allows performance of efficient protective actions which contribute to ensuring safety at the work place.

The ISO 50001:2018 Energy Management System is an international standard designating acknowledged and best practices in energy management; it also offers proof for our care for the environment in line with the assumptions of the Eco Agenda 2025.

Meeting the requirements of the standard guarantees:

• identification and management of risk related to the supply with energy;
• measuring and monitoring of energy consumption;
• enhanced efficiency, aiming for reduced consumption of energy;
• reduction of carbon footprint.

The AEO status is an authorisation issued by the customs administration of a Member State of the European Union, which confirms that the company meets special legal requirements relating to, among others:

• solvency and financial credibility,
• internal procedures that guarantee high quality and efficiency of operation,
• the whole area related to safety, security and the high level of employee competence.

The benefits of having an AEO status include the ability to take advantage of simplifications in the handling of imports and exports and being able to confirm the company’s credibility and good economic situation.

In October 2023, we joined the global B Corp community. The certification confirms that Velvet CARE meets a number of rigorous standards in 5 main areas such as: environment, workers, community, customers and governance.

Being a member of this community is also a commitment to pursue business goals with society and planet in mind.

The B Corp status applies to the entire Velvet CARE Group, including Czech subsidiary Moracell.

Velvet CARE’s commitment to society, the environment and sustainable development is confirmed by the Gold Medal received in the EcoVadis rating for 2023.

This achievement means that Velvet CARE is among the top 5% of organizations globally that were subject to this evaluation this year.

The EcoVadis assessment covers 21 sustainability criteria in four main thematic areas: environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.