Assistance with packaging

Packaging Testing and Characteristic Guidelines (VPA) list, among other things, technical details, testing conditions, and certificate contents.

VPA were made in close cooperation with the packaging manufacturing industry, their associations and the VCI (German chemical industry association). VPA are supplementary texts to the descriptions of standard packaging in the VCI Packaging Handbook​. In VPA basic technical details, testing conditions, contents of certificates and so forth are described. On the one hand applying to several packaging kinds they are on the other hand too comprehensive to be textually included in the individual packaging specification. At all times where possible VPA refer to superior regulations, e. g. valid standards. Legal regulations, for example with labelling of packaging, always have priority.

VPA are not obligatory. Only when explicitly mentioned in packaging specifications or other documents (e. g. sales contracts) do they become binding.

For packaging manufacturers and users the advantage of applying VPA lies in making standardised demands upon packaging. The same testing methods and evaluation criteria are being applied for quality control. Production supervision at manufacturers sites can be done in the same way as quality control at customers sites.