6 items under this folder.
Program structure
How a limit is set, how a product is tested against it, and what happens when a lot fails. The rules are published in advance so that neither the program nor a brand can decide them after the result is known.
The Two Pathways
The default HMTc limit is the strictest applicable government maximum. Where the program sets a number itself, the priority toxics and the cells no government regulates, it uses two pathways: a clean-subcategory limit near P97 (~90% pass) and a dirty-subcategory limit near P45 (~40% pass).
Method
Why Method v1 could not run a live certification program, and what Method v2 kept and killed.
Corrective Action
What happens after certification when a certified product develops a finding, a trend, or an exceedance. The effect on the certificate and the mark depends on whether the nonconforming lot was released and whether the affected product is currently represented as certified. Self-reported findings enter a defined corrective-action process; concealment is grounds for revocation.
The Readiness Pathway
A nonpublic, pre-certification pathway for a brand that does not yet know whether a product will pass. Read the applicable limit, learn where the product stands on exact quantitative results, and correct the cause on a defined plan before any official evaluation. No mark is awarded during readiness, and no public applicant record is created.
Readiness and corrective action
Finding a problem should leave a brand better off than concealing it. Which pathway applies depends on whether the product is certified yet: readiness runs before certification and awards no mark; corrective action runs after certification and its effect on the mark depends on release and representation.