Artwork Check: avoid compliance issues
Product labels, packaging, manuals and online product information must meet the applicable rules before your product reaches the market. Market surveillance authorities can check all of this without a single test, which is why it’s often the first thing they look at. If your artwork is wrong, you risk costly delays, reprints, penalties, recalls or other enforcement actions.
ProductIP’s Artwork Check is an artwork review for EU, EEA and UK requirements. You receive a practical report with clear improvement points, so you can move forward with confidence.
Why authorities start with your artwork
Artwork is low-hanging fruit for market surveillance authorities
Packaging, labels and manuals are what market surveillance authorities call low-hanging fruit. That means they can check every element without testing. Authorities immediately see whether the required markings are there, whether the mandatory texts are entirely accurate and whether the claims on the pack are permitted.
Artwork also says something about the product inside the box. Getting every element on the outside right requires discipline and knowledge throughout an organisation, so authorities treat artwork errors as a signal that the compliance evidence behind the product may be incomplete as well.
What an authority checks without testing:
- Whether the required markings and symbols are present and used in the prescribed form.
- Whether symbols have been invented or modified in-house.
- Whether mandatory texts are correct and in the local language.
- Whether the claims on the packaging are permitted and can be substantiated.
"When authorities find an error on the packaging, in 60% of cases the product inside has a compliance issue as well."
Caspar ter Horst, Co-Founder and Compliance Rebel
Packaging compliance explained
Why regulators inspect your packaging first
Your product might be compliant, but your packaging might not be. In this video, Caspar ter Horst, Managing Director and Partner, explains why market authorities often inspect artwork before the product itself. He discusses how visible mistakes on labels and manuals can lead to serious compliance issues. Furthermore, he outlines how an Artwork Check provides the control you need to ensure your packaging meets the standard.
Common findings
Where artwork goes wrong most often
Most artwork errors are small, repeat across an entire product range and are visible without opening the box. Three examples we see regularly:
- The age categorisation icon on toys. The 0 to 3 icon is either on the packaging in the prescribed form or it is not. In practice we see all kinds of self-made variations.
- The CE marking. Straightforward to apply and just as straightforward for an authority to check, which is exactly why errors here get noticed.
- The indoor use symbol. A product carries a clear indoor use symbol, while the packaging shows the product in use in a garden. The symbol and the imagery contradict each other. Consistency across the whole package is what matters.
Once you know which elements to look out for, you can correct them in your artwork templates and prevent the same finding on every product that follows.
Artwork scope
What can be checked in an artwork review?
Your artwork must give the right information to customers, supply chain partners and authorities. What that means differs per product and per country. Some products need limited labelling information, others need warnings, safety instructions, chemical labelling or CE marking. Product type, market, intended use and your role in the supply chain determine what applies.
This can include:
- Labels and packaging artwork that need to meet product and country requirements.
- Manuals, instructions and safety warnings where required for the product.
- Online product texts, descriptions, warnings and claims.
ProductIP helps you improve artwork
What does an artwork check include?
ProductIP reviews your product artwork against the applicable requirements for the European Union, European Economic Area and United Kingdom. You receive a clear report with the findings and practical improvement points.
Native speakers check every language version
The language versions required for the markets in your scope are reviewed by native speakers.
We assess the requirements per product and country
The check is based on the product type, target market and the regulations included in the report.
One report per product and per country
The report gives you findings and practical recommendations. You can follow these to correct the artwork and to update your templates for future products.
Supporting you every step of the way
Trusted by businesses that take product compliance seriously
ProductIP supports retailers, importers, brands and online sellers with product compliance for EU, EEA and UK markets.
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Artwork Check
Basic products
These are mostly products without manual, instructions, warnings or product specific mandatory labelling elements. Usually just subject to the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR).
- Examples are:
- General merchandise
- Clothing and footwear
- Stationery
- Kitchenware
- Household goods
- Decorative items
- Jewellery
Pricing starts at €325 (covers one product in one country).
For multiple products and/or countries, please request a quote.
Standard lead time 5 working days.
Artwork Check
Complex products
Products with a single function but with mandatory warnings and/or instructions for safety. Products with substances and
as such with chemical risks requiring labelling. Complex products with one or more functions or with the obligation
to carry the CE mark.
- Examples are:
- Electrical appliances
- Multimedia products
- Toys
- Chemical mixtures
- Lighting
- Protective clothing and gear
Pricing starts at €650 (covers one product in one country).
For multiple products and/or countries, please request a quote.
Standard lead time 5 working days.
Ready to get started?
Get artwork advice
Leave your message, and we’ll contact you. Typical turnaround time is 1–2 working days.
Prefer to send artwork directly? You can also email files to artwork@productip.com
Not sure whether you need a basic or complex Artwork Check? Tell us about your product and market. We will help you define the right scope.
