Policies

Product Responsibility Policies and Practices

Our product responsibility policies and practices include:

• Product Safety and Handling – We assess, manage and communicate hazards associated with our products. We communicate up-to-date information to help users handle our products in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
• Customer Satisfaction – We deliver what customers want and need. We aim to provide the highest quality products and service quickly, at a competitive price.
• Customer Privacy and Confidentiality – We will maintain customer confidentiality except where disclosure is authorized or required by law. We respect the privacy of all individuals for whom we maintain personal information. We will collect, use and disclose personal information only with the knowledge and permission of the affected person, unless otherwise permitted by local laws.

Management Process

PotashCorp ensures compliance with product responsibility policies and practices by following a Code of Customer Commitment, conducting annual customer surveys to measure needs and satisfaction, expressing expectations on product safety and undertaking feed plant certification.

• Product Analysis – All products are assessed for safety, health and environmental risks before leaving the plant, and periodically reassessed for any changes resulting from new information or new uses and markets. Products also are assessed during use. Reports of any adverse effects are collected and analyzed.
• Animal Testing – We do not directly conduct animal research studies. All product biological efficacy research studies are conducted by outside licensed organizations using protocols and test standards approved as safe and ethical for treatment of animals. We require outside services to meet exacting standards for safe and ethical treatment of animals.
• Plant Certification – All our US feed plants are certified under the American Feed Industry Association’s Safe Feed/Safe Food Certification Program. All facilities that receive ingredients or products and recombine them to create a product with a new identity must have a system of ingredient lot tracking and product tracing. Ingredient lot tracking records the individual ingredient lots used in the manufacturing process and tracks each to its respective finished products. Product tracing provides a complete list of all ingredient lots used in any finished product.
• Customer Education and Information – We inform customers of potential hazards associated with products and the best ways to use those products. All our products require careful storage, handling and application. Up-to-date information on safety, health and environmental hazards and risks related to the use, storage, handling, transport and disposal of PotashCorp products is available to the workforce, customers and others. Product literature, safety videos and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provide thorough guidance on proper product use. MSDS, labels and other information are developed and issued to handlers and users in accordance with legislative, regulatory and customer requirements, and as information changes. Product information is also available on our website.

• Product Information and Labeling – We are subject to feed and fertilizer labeling requirements in most jurisdictions where we make or sell products. Product labels are reviewed regularly to ensure they comply with all laws and regulations. Data specification sheets and a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) are required before new products are shipped. These documents inform customers about proper product handling and guaranteed analysis.

  We meet product registration and labeling requirements in all markets. Labeling requirements (which are similar for each state in the US) generally require us to provide:

  • Brand and product name
  • Guaranteed analysis
  • List of ingredients
  • Directions for use and any warning or caution statement
  • Name and address of manufacturer/guarantor
  • Quantity statement
  • Sources
  State officials inspect labels and review samples of products to ensure they are manufactured and distributed according to specifications. Product labels are reviewed regularly to ensure they comply with all laws and regulations.
• Customer Surveys – We survey customers annually, using the information gathered to set targets for improvement in customer satisfaction.
• Advertising – We review all advertising for technical accuracy and legal compliance.