Approach

Lion’s mission is to earn the confidence and satisfaction of customers by providing excellent goods and services useful for their daily lives. Based on our Quality Policy, we create high-quality products that meet customer needs.

Quality Policy

Group-wide Reliability Assurance System

In 2018, we established the Reliability Assurance Department to reinforce quality assurance based on a Product Management System covering the entire supply chain.
To implement quality assurance activities on a Company-wide basis, we have established the CS/PL Committee,* comprising representatives of the Product Planning Division, Production Division, R&D Division, Consumer Service Center and headquarters staff divisions. The Reliability Assurance Department serves as the secretariat for this committee. The CS/PL Committee provides overall management of quality assurance activities, monitoring Group-wide efforts and responses to issues in the areas of legal compliance, setting voluntary standards and targets, and developing superior products from the perspective of reliability assurance. Lion manufactures and sells products ranging from everyday sundries to pharmaceuticals, so its quality assurance system is designed in line with the respective standards for each product category.
Furthermore, Lion maintains a system for swiftly taking the necessary measures to address any serious problems that may arise with its products. These measures include responding to individuals harmed or affected, disclosing relevant information to government authorities and customers, issuing product recalls and taking steps to prevent recurrences.

Approach to Safety and Reliability

To ensure that customers can use Lion products with confidence, we evaluate the safety of raw materials and ingredients as well as of final products during use.

Safety of Raw Materials and Ingredients

Before using a raw material, we first review existing data and information to determine its physical characteristics and if it has any hazardous properties (hazard assessment) as well as whether we will be able to safely use it in the product being developed (risk assessment). With the wide-ranging customers that use our products in mind, and with reference to safety reports from international organizations and standards in and outside Japan, we determine whether or not the material is suitable for use in the product. Furthermore, in addition to health-related considerations, we similarly examine the material’s impact on the environment after its use by consumers in line with the latest scientific appraisals. Based on these comprehensive considerations, substances deemed to require caution are carefully documented and managed.
When existing data is insufficient to reach a determination, we perform safety tests using officially designated and other objective methods of evaluation. Through such testing, we determine the limits within which the raw material can be used safely, taking into account the way the product will be used. Finally, for raw materials deemed suitable for use, we establish standards based on their applications (such as use in pharmaceuticals, food products, quasi-drugs, cosmetics or sundries). Raw materials that meet these standards are used in product manufacturing.
As with the raw materials of the product contents, we use only materials that meet appropriate standards for product packaging and containers.
Even after products are launched, we continue to analyze research data on the raw materials and ingredients used to confirm that there are no issues with their continued use.
In some cases, small amounts of impurities arising from raw materials or manufacturing processes end up in products. Even if such impurities present no health concern, Lion implements quality management at every stage, including raw material purchasing and production, to reduce impurities as much as is feasible. One example of such efforts is Lion’s response to a notice published by the Japanese government in 2012 about organic pigments that could have been unintentionally contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Upon the notice’s publication, Lion moved quickly to confirm that there were no safety issues with its products. Since then, in accordance with the government’s guidance, Lion has purchased and used such raw materials produced using designated best available technologies (BATs). Through efforts like these, we ensure that any impurities in our products are maintained at low levels that are safe for customers and the environment.

Safety of Products During Use

Giving due consideration to the various ways products may be used as well as product use by socially vulnerable customers, we perform safety evaluations based on an approach of avoiding risks at the product design stage.
To this end, we use a checklist to determine whether the product design ensures safety in both “normal use” and “mistaken use” cases. For “irregular use” cases, we assess whether risk reduction is possible and whether the risk is tolerable, and as necessary clearly label the product with an explicit safety warning.

In addition, the quality verification meeting, which encompasses representatives of related departments, performs assessments based on customer use scenarios in order to prevent harm related to product use and to prevent the omission of items that should be checked for safety.
If there is trouble with a product, we have an internal system in place, ready to promptly issue product recalls or otherwise respond as needed.

Approach to Responsible Product Representations

To improve the quality of representations (such as labels and advertising) about all the products it sells (including food and pharmaceutical products), Lion has clearly designated its approach to product representation standards and established a representation drafting manual, comprising guidelines for precise, appropriate product representation preparation in each step of product development under its Product Management System. These guidelines apply to all wording and expressions used in product packaging, instructions, pamphlets, advertisements and other representations. To reinforce the monitoring of expressions used in advertising, Lion operates an advertising management system comprising the following aspects.

1. Enhancement of the vetting system applied to advertising for all products, including food products
2. Consultation with the Consumer Affairs Agency and other government agencies as needed
3. Thorough legal training for employees

In particular, to ensure thorough compliance with the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations and other laws and regulations concerning product labels and advertising, Lion provides e-learning for all employees and lectures for employees in related divisions as part of its legal education initiatives.

Labeling in the Languages of the Places Where Products Are Sold

To ensure that customers can accurately understand the features of our products, our product labels, including usage instructions and ingredient lists, are presented in the official languages of the places where they are sold.

KireiKirei Hand Soap labels

Animal Testing Policy

The Lion Group adheres strictly to the international principles of the 3Rs for animal testing (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) and supports the philosophy of animal welfare.

We proactively work to thoroughly ensure the safety and enhance the functionality of our wide range of products and services to better serve our customers. In developing cosmetics (including medicated cosmetics), we do not use animal testing apart from exceptional circumstances in which it is required to ensure safety or satisfy legal requirements. Similarly, in developing other products, we employ alternative methods as long as the accuracy and replicability of the scientific data used as the basis for evaluating products are not negatively affected. When no alternative methods are available and we must use animal testing, we strive to do so properly and in line with the principles of the 3Rs and the laws of relevant countries.

Lion Corporation has long focused efforts on related research through participation in the Long-range Research Initiative of the Japan Chemical Industry Association and the Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments. We will continue actively developing alternatives to animal testing and advancing business activities that contribute to both the health of our customers and animal welfare.