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The Product Information Form (PIF) is an industry-agreed general questionnaire intended to be used by companies to provide a wide variety of information about ingredients, their composition, the presence of allergens and other general information.
The PIF is intended to permit all ingredient suppliers and food manufacturers to use this single document to satisfy their information needs to meet the legal obligations under Food Standards and Consumer protection requirements.
Latest Version - PIF 5.0
PIF 5.0 2011.xls is the finalised Excel version of the form which was released on 01 October 2011 and supersedes all earlier versions. The form incorporates a number of minor changes identified in earlier releases of the form, and introduces several structural changes to the layout of data to more closely align the form to the development of PIF-Online.
PIF 5.0 has been released after several years of development and upgrades through earlier versions. It is expected that PIF 5.0 will not require any further modifications for at least 12 months, and then only if legislative changes impact on information or labelling requirements. Some sectors of industry requested the ability to complete the form manually, but with the advanced features of the Excel form it is not possibly to simply press the ‘print’ button and have a form that you can fill in. Consequently, a modified version of the form has been created which includes options and questions that are not always visible in the Excel version of the form. This is closely aligned to the layout of the PIF5.0 and is called PrintOnly PIF 5.0 2011.xls
Data Migration Tool
Many businesses have developed their product specification in the previous version PIF 4.3. In order to assist businesses migrate the data from their existing PIF 4.3 forms to the new PIF 5.0, using a data conversion tool has been developed which migrate a lot of the PIF information from the current form to the new form. Naturally the new PIF 5.0 form will still need to be checked and a few additional data fields entered, but it should cut down a lot of work for companies to upgrade their forms.
Industry transition to new PIF
Implementation and adoption of the new PIF is at the discretion of suppliers and their customers as it is not only a matter of being able to provide the new PIF but also for customer’s systems to be able to accept the new PIF. The AFGC recommends that companies should work towards being transitioned to the new format by December 2011.
DOWNLOAD the PIF 5.0 Zip file
PIF 5.0 User Guide
Along with the release of the new PIF 5.0 and the PIFconvert tool there is also a detailed User Guide for PIF5.0. While changes to PIF 5.0 not anticipated, updates to the User Guide is likely over time, based on user feedback and queries and in consideration of the need for further explanations for users where there is uncertainty in how to use the PIF or the intent of particular questions.
DOWNLOAD the PIF 5.0 User Guide
To ensure that you have access to the latest information about PIF and the User Guide, the AFGC has established a PIF email list provided absolutely FREE of charge. To be included on the PIF e-list, please contact the Secretariat via email:
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