The packaging glossary: terms every Australian brand owner meets, defined

Terms

ACCC

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Enforces the Australian Consumer Law, which governs every claim on a pack (misleading or deceptive conduct), country of origin labelling for food and the cosmetics ingredient labelling standard.

AICIS

Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme. Regulates the ingredients in cosmetics and other industrial chemical products; the importer or manufacturer must be registered and ingredients introduced under the scheme.

APCO

Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation. The co-regulatory body for packaging sustainability; its members report on packaging and use the ARL.

APVMA

Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. Regulates veterinary medicines and products making therapeutic claims for animals, including some pet supplements.

ARL

Australasian Recycling Label. The on-pack recycling label (recyclable, conditionally recyclable, not recyclable, per component) administered by APCO and expected by the major retailers.

ARTG

Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. The TGA's register; a medicine, including a listed complementary medicine, must be on it before supply.

Artwork

The print-ready file for one SKU: the approved design placed on the printer's dieline with final copy, regulatory content, barcode, bleed and separations. Distinct from design, which is the creative system.

AS 5812

Australian Standard for the manufacturing and marketing of pet food for cats and dogs. Voluntary nationally, mandatory for PFIAA members and the benchmark retailers use.

AUST L / AUST R

The listing (AUST L, AUST L(A)) or registration (AUST R) number of a medicine on the ARTG, which must appear on the label. Most supplements are AUST L.

Bearer bars

The heavy bars framing an ITF-14 barcode, which protect print quality on corrugated board.

Bleed

Artwork extended past the cut line (usually 3 mm) so that trimming variation never leaves a white edge.

Category manager / buyer

The retailer employee responsible for a product category's range, suppliers and performance, and for deciding what is ranged at a range review.

CHI

Critical Health Information. The tabulated panel (actives, uses, warnings, directions) required on most registered non-prescription medicines and recommended on listed ones.

Consumer unit

The pack the shopper buys. Also retail unit, base unit or each. Carries the EAN-13.

Country of origin (CoOL)

The mandatory country of origin food labelling scheme (standard mark with kangaroo logo and bar chart for Australian-made food) under the ACCC; voluntary but regulated for non-food.

Crease / score

A fold line on a carton dieline, pressed by the cutting die so the board folds cleanly.

Dieline

The flat vector template of a pack showing cut, crease, perforation, glue and no-print zones, produced by the converter and used to build artwork and make the cutting die.

Digital print

Printing from file with no plates; economical for short runs and many versions, with a flat unit cost.

Dot gain

The growth of printed dots on press, which darkens tints and fills in fine type; highest on flexo and uncoated board.

EAN-13

The 13-digit retail barcode symbology carrying a GTIN-13, scanned at point of sale.

EDI

Electronic Data Interchange. The automated exchange of orders, invoices and shipping notices with a retailer; required by Chemist Warehouse and the supermarkets.

Expanded gamut

Printing with CMYK plus orange, green and violet to simulate most spot colours without extra plates per version.

FBB / SBS

Folding box board and solid bleached board: the two main carton boards. SBS is brighter and more expensive.

FEFCO / ECMA codes

Standard catalogues of corrugated case styles (FEFCO) and folding carton styles (ECMA), used to specify a style by number.

Flexo

Flexographic printing: raised plates on a rotary web press; the standard for labels, flexible packaging and corrugated.

FSANZ

Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Writes the Food Standards Code, which sets food labelling law.

GFSI

Global Food Safety Initiative. The benchmark that recognises food safety certification schemes such as SQF and BRCGS; Coles requires GFSI certification for Own Brand food suppliers.

Gravure

Rotogravure printing from engraved cylinders; the best consistency and lowest unit cost at very long flexible-packaging runs.

GS1

The not-for-profit body that issues company prefixes and barcode standards. GS1 Australia membership is required for a legitimate GTIN.

GTIN

Global Trade Item Number. The number behind the barcode: GTIN-13 for retail units, GTIN-14 for inners and cartons. Each variant and packaging level needs its own.

HSR

Health Star Rating. The voluntary front-of-pack nutrition rating from half a star to five, now the subject of FSANZ Proposal P1067 to make it mandatory.

INCI

International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients. The naming convention used for cosmetic ingredient lists.

ITF-14

The carton barcode symbology carrying a GTIN-14, printed with bearer bars on corrugated.

Listed medicine

A lower-risk medicine (most supplements) listed on the ARTG by its sponsor using permitted ingredients and indications, carrying an AUST L number.

Main label

On a medicine, the part of the label where the medicine name is most conspicuous; it must carry the name, actives, dosage form, quantity and AUST number.

MLOR

Minimum life on receipt. The shelf life a retailer requires remaining when stock arrives; Chemist Warehouse requires twelve months.

Mock-up

A physical or rendered sample of the pack before print, used to check the dieline, hierarchy and shelf presence.

New Line Form

The retailer form that creates a new product in its systems (Chemist Warehouse's term; Woolworths uses article enrichment on Partner Hub).

NIP

Nutrition information panel. The mandatory food nutrition table under the Food Standards Code.

NMI

National Measurement Institute. Sets trade measurement rules including the net quantity statement and its minimum character heights.

Offset

Lithographic printing on sheets; the standard for folding cartons and fine detail.

Own brand / private label

A product sold under the retailer's brand, made by a supplier to the retailer's specification and designed inside the retailer's brand system.

PEAL

Plain English Allergen Labelling. The Food Standards Code requirement (mandatory since 25 February 2024) for allergens to be declared in bold in the ingredients list with a separate Contains statement.

Permitted indications

The TGA's list of claims a listed medicine may make; nothing outside it is allowed on a listed medicine's label.

PFIAA

Pet Food Industry Association of Australia. The industry body whose members must comply with AS 5812.

Quiet zone

The clear space either side of a barcode that the scanner needs to find its edges.

Range review

The retailer's periodic (usually annual or twice-yearly) review of a category's range, when new products are considered and existing ones delisted.

RangeMe

The product discovery platform Coles prefers prospective suppliers to use to present products to its buyers.

RASML

Required Advisory Statements for Medicine Labels. The TGA's mandated warning statements for medicines by ingredient and dose.

Rich black

A black built from CMYK (for example 60/40/40/100) for deep solids, as opposed to 100 percent black alone for small type.

Safe area

The zone inside the cut line (3 to 5 mm) where text and barcodes must sit so trimming never clips them.

SKU

Stock keeping unit. One sellable variant (product, flavour, size); each has its own GTIN and artwork.

Sponsor

The Australian entity responsible for a therapeutic good on the ARTG, named on the label.

Spot colour

A pre-mixed ink printed from its own plate (for example a Pantone), as opposed to a colour built from CMYK.

SRP / RRP (packaging)

Shelf-ready or retail-ready packaging: a shipper designed to go straight onto the shelf as a tray. Coles and Woolworths expect it in many categories and judge it by the five easies.

SSCC

Serial Shipping Container Code. The unique pallet or logistics unit identifier carried in a GS1-128 label.

TGA

Therapeutic Goods Administration. Regulates medicines, including supplements, and therapeutic sunscreens.

TGO 92 / TGO 116

The labelling standards for non-prescription medicines. TGO 92 sunset on 1 October 2026; TGO 116 replaces it with a five-year transition.

Trade unit

The inner or outer carton containing consumer units, scanned in the warehouse; carries an ITF-14 or GS1-128.

Trading terms

The commercial agreement with a retailer: margins, payment terms, promotional funding, delivery and returns, signed before supply starts.

Verification report

A test of a printed barcode against ISO/IEC 15416 grading, required by Woolworths before ranging and re-run annually.

VQC

Vendor Quality Compliance. Woolworths' system for scoring supplier deliveries at the distribution centre against its standards.

White underprint

A layer of opaque white ink printed beneath colours on clear or metallised substrates so they read correctly.