Decernis LLC, Washington, D.C., formed a new partnership with Label bank Co. Ltd., Japan, to bridge the gap between consumers and businesses with in-depth knowledge of food labeling and provide workable solutions concerning any food issues to jointly market and sell solutions in Japan.

Based on this new collaboration, Decernis and Label bank are sharing information and resources based on Decernis' compliance management system, gComply Plus, comprising more than 5 million terms from over 90,000 food and beverage regulations and compliance standards across 207 countries worldwide. This will help industry users ensure their product recipes and specifications comply with global regulatory requirements, including information on additives, nutritional values, packaging, contaminants and Standards of Identity. Together, the solution's food contaminants, beverage standards, food additives, food contact, food standards and supplements modules will be expanded.

The partnership will further benefit through the utilization of Decernis' gComply and Market Entry Reports, which provide a summary of food labeling requirements and food regulations to sell products in 42 different countries. They include mandatory information, ingredients, nutritional information, claims and import requirements.

"Because manufacturers and exporters of food products imported to Japan can be unfamiliar with the market, it is important to determine which food category the product belongs in and whether the product meets the relevant definitions provided by the Japanese food labelling regulations," says Andrew (Pat) Waldo, chief executive officer of Decernis. "By partnering with Label bank, businesses can benefit from the combined knowledge of the two companies. And, Label bank will expand Decernis' reach in the Japanese market."

"Decernis solutions offer a complete system, which is an incredibly useful tool for managers responsible for the development of foods distributed in the global market and the people responsible for food product labeling," adds Hiroyuki Kawai, managing director of Label bank. "The ingredients composition of a product and its labeling are closely related. The mandatory content to be labeled will depend on the ingredients list. The list often needs to be adjusted in accordance with the claims or content to be set out on the label."