Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory compliance is defined as an organisation’s adherence to laws, regulations and guidelines created by government legislations and regulatory bodies relevant to its business processes.

Regulatory compliance is important to uphold the integrity of the business processes, protecting public interest as well stakeholder interest. Organisations that are transparent about their regulatory compliance processes gain an increased level of trust from its clients and business partners. Over time, this can improve brand perception and can increase the overall profitability of the organisation. Having a solid regulatory compliance strategy helps organisations stay on top of regulatory risks and be future ready.

Organisations that maintain consistent regulatory compliance management:

• avoid unnecessary legal issues by meeting the necessary obligations for the organisation
• gain better branding for the organisation which build better public relations as meeting regulatory obligations increases stakeholder confidence
• reduces business risk which encourage profitability - business partners appreciate working with organisations that consistently meets its regulatory obligations resulting in long lasting partnerships.

Regulatory non-compliance can lead to:

• financial penalties for the organisation (either one-off or cumulative over a period time)
• business disruption because of legal action leading to manufacturing operations being halted causing supply chain vulnerabilities for the organisation generating additional losses
• a loss in reputation among clients, business partners and the public due to negative publicity and revenue losses resulting from a loss of customer confidence and sales.

My role at Dominant is to ensure that the Dominant business is compliant with all the regulations that impact the business. The role covers a variety of areas within the business including:

• product (labelling compliance and SDS management)
• regulatory bodies that directly impact the Dominant business (EPA, NPI, SA Water, APCO)
• product registration (TGA, APVMA, DAWE)
• manufacturing standards (ISO certificates)

With regulatory compliance for Dominant constantly evolving, it is important to keep abreast of the regulatory changes that impact the Dominant business. Subscription and attendance to appropriate industry and regulatory body forums is an effective mechanism to ensure the Dominant business is aware of any regulatory compliance risks so that the business can adapt accordingly to remain in a compliant regulatory environment.