Product Safety and Quality Assurance Tools and Processes

Our approach

Product safety is a basic expectation of our guests and a priority for Target. We work to meet or exceed regulatory, safety and quality standards by testing Target-brand products at or above mandatory requirements. We expect our vendors and factories to utilize best practices, ensuring product safety and consistent quality for our guests. Additionally, Target participates in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission retailer reporting program for all general merchandise products, regardless of brand.

Assessing Target brands

Our product safety, quality and regulatory program incorporates every stage of our owned brand product life cycle. During the process, we require independent third-party testing to validate safety and quality before our guests purchase Target-brand products.

Our vendors are expected to employ best practices, including clearly defined and well-documented manufacturing and quality processes, including staff training and record keeping. They must ensure products meet regulatory, safety and quality standards.

With our Vendor Compliance Assessment tool for imported products and our Factory Assessment Processes, we are able to evaluate our vendors' and factories' ability to deliver consistent, safe and quality results. In some highly regulated product categories, we require the industry standard Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) audit as a minimum requirement for production facilities.

Target uses a risk-based approach to production management and may require a Production Readiness Meeting involving a Target employee or third-party agent visiting the factory and validating the production planning information, including approval samples, production plan and quality plan (including any internal testing and inspections).

We have established a risk-based multi-stage Product Testing Program to ensure products are tested through the entire production run. Our program builds in periodic testing from independent, third-party laboratories validating that safety and regulatory standards have been satisfied, including but not limited to: analytical tests (chemical), performance tests (durability/functionality), label validation and flammability standards.

See our annual reporting on sustainability and governance to learn more.

General merchandise investigation and removals

If we learn about a problem with one of our products, we investigate and, when necessary, quickly remove it from our stores and Target.com. If a product is recalled, we ensure it isn't sold by issuing a lock on the item number at the cash register and online. We also contact any known guest who purchased a recalled item by phone and/or email and Target app push notification. Guests can always find up-to-date recall information posted on in-store iPads and Help Centers, and in the "Recalls" link on Target.com.