HFGA-PCP-00Draft · v1

HFGA Product Conformance Profile

The HFGA Product Conformance Profile (HFGA-PCP-00) is the template for mapping a named product to a grade of an HFGA standard, plus registration rules.

Designation: HFGA-PCP-00
Jurisdiction: All HFGA standards
Category: Scheme & conformity
Issued: 2026-07

Status — v1, issued for HFGA Technical Committee review. The register is not open: no profile can be registered while the underlying standards are at Draft status, other than as a labelled pilot. The worked example is illustrative and is not a registered profile.

1.Scope and application

This document specifies the content, form, and registration rules for a Product Conformance Profile: the instrument by which a declarant maps a named commercial product to a grade of an HFGA standard.

Applies to: any product placed on the market whose supplier wishes to describe it in terms of an HFGA grade.
Does not apply to: single-lot conformity claims, which need no profile and are made directly under the claims clause of the relevant standard.
A profile is authored by the declarant and registered by HFGA. HFGA does not write profiles, and writing one would compromise its position as the neutral party verifying it.

Note — The layering is the point. The standard says what a grade means; the profile says what a product claims; a Lot Verification Record says whether a given batch actually met it. Collapsing any two of those into one document is how a standards body turns into a marketing channel.

2.Who may register a profile

The declarant is the organization placing the product on the market and holding the records that support it — normally the processor, not the farm.
A declarant shall be able to produce the full evidence bundle for its supply chain, whether or not it operates every step itself.
One profile covers one product. A supplier with three fiber lines registers three profiles; a single profile may not span products with different specifications.
Registration is open on identical published terms to any declarant, including declarants who compete with HFGA members or affiliates.
There is no fee to register a profile.

3.Required content

Every profile carries the following sections. A profile missing any of them is not registrable.

Profile content

Section	Content	Why it is required
Identity	Product name, declarant, facilities, profile designation, version, effective date	Fixes what is being claimed and by whom
Reference standard	Standard code, version, and grade declared	A grade is meaningless without the version that defined it
Tightened parameters	Any parameter held tighter than the standard, with the value	This is where a product differentiates itself
Additional parameters	Product properties the standard does not cover — bale format, cut length, colour consistency	Lets a profile carry commercial spec without polluting the standard
Approved varieties	The genetic lines the product may be produced from	Ties the product to the genetics evidence in the schedule
Approved regions	Growing regions or licensed producers in scope	Bounds the plot evidence
Process route	Which permitted retting and decortication methods are used	The standard permits several; a product normally uses one
Verification level	The level from HFGA-VER-01 the product operates at	Tells a buyer who does the checking
Evidence plan	Which schedule items apply and at what frequency	The operational contract for recurring checks
Permitted claim	The exact claim sentence a customer may print	Removes ambiguity about what may be said

4.Worked example

An illustration of a completed profile. This is a formatting example, not a registered profile, and the values are invented.

Illustrative profile — a branded fiber line

Field	Value
Designation	HFGA-PCP-EXAMPLE-01 v1 (illustrative)
Product	Example Fiber — a branded decorticated line fiber
Declarant	Example processor, with named decortication facility
Reference standard	HFGA-TX-US-01 v1, Grade TX-A
Tightened parameters	Residual shive ≤ 0.6% m/m against the standard's ≤ 1.0%; colour Hunter L* ≥ 65 against ≥ 60
Additional parameters	Bale format 400 ± 15 kg; cut length 90 ± 10 mm
Approved varieties	Named certified varieties from the HFGA variety register
Approved regions	Named licensed producers within stated states
Process route	Field retting; mechanical decortication; no bleaching
Verification level	L3 — independently tested
Evidence plan	Full HFGA-VER-01 schedule; grade testing every lot; RSL panel annually
Permitted claim	"Example Fiber is registered to HFGA-PCP-EXAMPLE-01, declaring conformity to HFGA-TX-US-01 v1, Grade TX-A. Lot HFGA-US-XX-2026-0000 verified 2026-08-14."

Note — Note what the permitted claim does and does not say. It names the product, the profile, the standard version, the grade, and a specific verified lot with a date. It does not say the declarant is certified, because no organization ever is.

5.Tightening, never loosening

A profile may set any parameter tighter than the referenced grade.
A profile may add parameters the standard does not address.
A profile may restrict scope — to fewer varieties, fewer regions, one process route.
A profile shall not loosen any threshold, widen any range, or substitute a less stringent test method.
Where a declarant needs a threshold the standard does not permit, the route is a comment to the Technical Committee under the standard's governance clause, not a profile that quietly departs from it.

Note — This rule is what protects the grade names. If profiles could loosen thresholds, "TX-A" would mean whatever each supplier decided, and a buyer comparing two TX-A products would be comparing nothing.

6.Registration, revision, and status

Profile status

Status	Meaning	Claim permitted
Submitted	Received, not yet assessed	No
Registered	Assessed complete and consistent; published on the register	Yes, paired with a current Lot Verification Record
Suspended	A major non-conformance is open, or evidence is overdue	No, for affected lots
Withdrawn	Registration ended, by the declarant or by HFGA	No; historical records remain published

The register is public, and every status change is published with its date.
A profile is versioned. Tightening a parameter or changing a verification level is a new version; the prior version stays published, because claims made under it cited that version.
A profile is reviewed on registration, on any declared change under HFGA-VER-01, and at least annually.
Where a Committee member, officer, or affiliate holds a commercial interest in a profile under consideration, the interest is disclosed on the register and the interested party takes no part in the decision.

7.Governance and revision

Maintained by the HFGA Standards Technical Committee.
Issued for a 60-day public comment period before ratification, with a written disposition for every comment.
The register opens only once the referenced standard reaches Published status. Pilot profiles may be registered against a Draft standard where labelled as pilots, and their findings feed the comment record.
Comments to standards@hfga.io.

About the Product Conformance Profile

What is an HFGA Product Conformance Profile?+

A Product Conformance Profile is a public document in which a manufacturer maps one named commercial product — a branded fiber line, for example — to a grade of an HFGA standard. It states which standard and version the product declares against, which grade, any parameters the product tightens beyond that grade, which varieties and regions it draws from, and which verification level it operates at. HFGA registers and verifies profiles; it does not write them.

Why is the product named in a profile rather than in the standard?+

Because a standard has to stay neutral to be worth anything. If a named product appeared in HFGA-TX-US-01, the standard would become that company's specification sheet and no competitor could adopt it. Keeping product identity in a separate registered document lets any manufacturer map any product to the same neutral grades, and lets a buyer compare two products against one yardstick.

Can a Product Conformance Profile make a standard's requirements weaker?+

No. A profile may tighten any parameter, add parameters the standard does not cover, or restrict a grade to particular varieties or growing regions. It may never loosen a threshold. Grade TX-A means at least TX-A wherever it appears, whatever product name sits beside it — otherwise the grade would stop meaning anything.

Does a registered profile mean a company is HFGA certified?+

No, and that claim is expressly not permitted. A profile is a declaration about a product, and it becomes a conformity claim only when paired with a current Lot Verification Record for specific material. A company can never be certified — conformity is a property of tested material, not of an organization.

Comment on this standard

HFGA-PCP-00 is maintained by the HFGA Standards Technical Committee. Growers, processors, brands, and laboratories are invited to submit comments, test data, or proposed revisions — participation is free and open.

Submit a comment All standards

Related standards

Cite as: Hemp Fiber and Grain Association, HFGA Product Conformance Profile (HFGA-PCP-00), v1, 2026-07.

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