Abstract

German Cosmetic, Toiletry, Perfumery and Detergent Association (IKW) member companies make their expert knowledge of the products they manufacture available to the general public; this is done in the form of quality assessment recommendations.

The recommendations for the quality assessment are elaborated in working groups and are intended to enable a qualified testing of the relevant products by the manufacturers and test institutes. Quality characteristics are described that need to be fulfilled by the products concerned in order to achieve the effects expected by consumers and manufacturers.

The companies working within the framework of IKW want optimal quality standards for their products. Their aim is a consistent orientation to sustainability as a guiding principle, preparing to successfully face the future in a constantly changing world.

The recommendations describe which qualities are relevant to a given product and how such qualities can be measured. It should be noted that every finished product has a certain efficacy spectrum in its intended use; this spectrum is largely determined by consumer expectations as to each individual quality characteristic – so that in each product some characteristics are deliberately emphasised while others will be less important. Moreover, the desired combination of product properties is subject to constant change, depending on the latest technical possibilities and new consumer habits.

Quality assessment recommendations must not impair such developments. Consequently, for each product only one overall result is valid to determine whether the product meets the quality recommendations or not. Emphasis on isolated test criteria is not admissible and may be misleading.

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