A new international technical specification of self-adhesive labels, ISO DTS 18614, was published in August 2016 by ISO to bring new clarity to the process for ordering and specification between end users and the label supply chain. Its content benefitted from important input from the industry itself, in the form of a collaboration between the label association in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, also known as Verband der Hersteller selbstklebender Etiketten und Schmalbahnconverter (VskE), and  FINAT – the Europe-based international label industry association.

The original request for such technical specifications came from major self-adhesive label end users Ericsson and IKEA, who submitted a proposal via the Swedish Standards Institute (SIS). The proposal was accepted and an ISO project workgroup was established as a result of a Europe-wide majority vote.

Alongside VskE, FINAT contributed to the German standardization institute DIN’s mirror workgroup, in which label industry representatives Klemens Ehrlitzer of VskE, Ulli Nägele of Herma, and FINAT Past President Kurt Walker participated.

Free-to-access checklist
A checklist of standards for ordering self-adhesive labels, defined in a specialist label industry workgroup involving users and suppliers and compiled by VskE and FINAT, is an important part of the official technical specification. Appendix A of  FINAT ISO DTS 18614 and, with Appendix C on end users’ label material specification parameters, are now within the public domain, and may be downloaded free of charge from ISO via the following link: http://standards.iso.org/iso/18614. The complete ISO Technical Specification — ISO DTS 18614:  Packaging – Label Material – Required Information for Ordering and Specifying Self-adhesive Labels – may be ordered from Beuth Verlag at [email protected].

FINAT Managing Director Jules Lejeune comments: “The resulting document is a measured and relevant specification that combines the application-specific needs of the brand owner with the expertise of the self-adhesive label industry. It records the necessary parameters for professional performance at all levels, from raw materials through converting and label application to on-pack performance, efficacy, safety, and a happy customer.”