Certain prerequisites have to be fulfilled for a product to be awarded the AGR seal of approval.

Prerequisites:
If a manufacturer offers a product with appropriate ergonomic properties that help to avoid or reduce backache, he can submit an informal written application to the AGR e.V. (Campaign for Healthier Backs) to have the product tested.

If a product of this kind is to be developed in future or is already in the development phase, a manufacturer can also contact the AGR to ask about the possibility of testing for the seal of approval at a later point in time.

Application:
Please note that detailed investigations/studies should already be submitted with the application as far as possible. These should verify the product benefit. If such benefit verification is currently not possible, initially a written product description will suffice, accompanied by the manufacturer's explanation of the expected product benefit. If necessary, the AGR will arrange for professional support or establish contact to corresponding medical experts.

Once the AGR has received a correspondingly qualified application, it coordinates all further necessary steps with the respective manufacturer and submits the product to corresponding testing for the seal of approval.

Agreement:

For worldwide use of the AGR seal of approval, a corresponding agreement is necessary before the test is carried out. The agreement stipulates all necessary legal details, together with the strict legal requirements that have to be considered and fulfilled.

The main points are as follows:

a) The AGR seal of approval is only valid for a limited period of time. Re-auditing is necessary after 5 years at the latest if the manufacturer still wants to continue using the seal of approval.

b) Every change to the product made by the manufacturer that influences or could influence the product benefit must be reported and may possibly also result in a re-audit.

c) If there are any changes to previous medical findings that had led among others to the seal of approval being awarded (something that definitely happens in medical science), the manufacturer has to upgrade the product accordingly or refrain from any further use of the seal of approval.

Testing for the seal of approval:

The product is tested not by the AGR but by two independent medical associations respectively their experts. Each independent testing body consists of experts from a range of different disciplines. In advance, these medical experts develop the criteria that a product has to fulfil from the interdisciplinary medical point of view in order to bring ergonomic benefit.

Benefit for the manufacturer:

The AGR seal of approval definitely has a certain marketing benefit for the manufacturer. For the AGR; the seal of approval merely acts as legitimation for communication. The main target groups for AGR communication are as follows:

1. Physicians, therapists, etc. (medical experts)
2. Press (health journalists in the lay press)
3. Patients who are addressed by the various AGR media.

It is the declared objective in the AGR statutes to proceed with broad education as an appropriate element in the prevention and therapy of back problems. This naturally also entails further expanding the range of products awarded the AGR seal of approval.

Applications for the AGR seal of approval are therefore always welcome; we look forward to covering new additional topics in future. Please contact us directly if you are interested in the AGR seal of approval or if you have any other questions about the seal of approval.