Why PIF V6 is important for your organisation
by Geoffrey Annison, Deputy Chief Executive, Australian Food and Grocery Council
The new online Product Information Form, affectionately known as the PIF V6, is designed by the industry, for the industry – and is designed to save food and grocery companies across Australia & New Zealand time, money and hassles.
If you haven’t yet started using PIFs, or if you’re still wrangling the old V5 Excel spreadsheet, it’s definitely worth your while to have a look at PIF V6 and investigate the benefits it can provide your company.
In the current edition of Food & Drink Business magazine, I detailed seven reasons that the new online PIF is important for your organisation. Here’s a snapshot:
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- Streamlined compliance
If you’re still using the PIF V5 you need to be vigilant about the gaps in your compliance data, because PIF V5 has not been updated to ensure compliance with the current ANZ Food Standards Code and other regulations. The online portals step you through everything you need to complete a PIF V6.
By using this fully searchable, interoperable, online form, you’ll collect and manage all the data that you need to assist with compliance to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Country of Origin labelling requirements, imported food controls and other regulations. All of this while eliminating time-consuming and repetitive data entry.
- Single source of truth
Because the V6 PIF is securely stored and automatically managed within a dedicated portal such as Bizcaps PIF Manager™, licensed by the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC), your ePIFs are always up to date with a full version history. You can also attach all relevant documents and certificates to your PIF, and they automatically travel with the current version.
- Accurate, searchable and accessible data
Your PIF portal is your secure, centralised data repository – so any authorised team member can find the latest finalised and approved PIF information promptly.
Every field within a PIF V6 is searchable, so you have all the information you need right there at your fingertips. This is an enormous time-saver!
- Automated comparisons
With a PIF V6 portal, you can automatically compare two PIFs and generate a list of all the variations and changes between them. No more side-by-side checking PIFs onscreen or manually ticking off section by section on a printout. The comparison results appear on the screen with a click of a button!
- Secure and integrated technology
PIF portals are securely cloud-based, with access control based on password-protected authorities and permission hierarchies. Your intellectual property is safe, and set up for secure sharing with your customers and suppliers that’s much safer than emailing.
- Help is on hand
Each portal has built-in access to the handy User Guide published by the AFGC, with hover text and on-screen guidance. The AFGC’s website has a very helpful Industry Resources section, with a wealth of step-by-step information to help you assess for yourself the benefits of moving to PIF V6.
- And yes, you can still email your PIF
If your customers and suppliers aren’t yet set up with a PIF portal, you can simply download a PDF of your PIF V6 and email it to them. Of course, the most efficient set up is when trading partners are using V6 PIFs and the portal transmits your PIF, together with its certificates and attachments in a single message to one or multiple trading partners.