Declare Submission, Review, and Publication Process
By now, you’ll have completed the creation process of your Declare label, and you are ready to submit it for approval and publication! With the preview step completed and the submission step begun, you are on your way to getting your Declare label published! This guide will walk you through a detailed explanation describing submitting your Declare label, the review process, and the publication of the label.
Declare Label Submission
With steps 1 through 4 of the Declare workflow completed, as described in Creating a Declare Label Start to Finish, it’s time to go through step 5: submitting your Declare label. Begin by proceeding through the workflow, selecting either the arrow or Submit in the Submit Declare Label workflow at the top of the webpage.
A pop-up window will appear, asking if you’d like to request Third Party Verification through a 3E Exchange partner. Select Start the Submission to proceed.
Please note that it is not necessary to check the box requesting verification for a 3E partner. If you are pursuing Third Party Verification for your Declare label, you will indicate this as part of the Edit Declare Fields. If you are interested in Third Party Verification for your Declare label, please review the list of Living Future-approved verifiers available on the Declare webpage.
You will then be brought to a page under My Publications where you can review data input as part of the General Info step of the Declare workflow.
Please note that any changes made within this page may not be reflected in the final publication. If any changes are needed, please go back to Step 2: Complete Declare Specific Manufacturer Information within the Declare Label Creation guide.
Once you have confirmed the information is correct, select Continue.
You will once again be asked if you’d like to request Third Party Verification. Select Continue to proceed.
You will now have the opportunity to submit your Declare label for publication or share the label for feedback. To proceed, select the Submit Declare Label to ILFI blue dropdown button.
You will be able to select either Submit for Approval or Share for Feedback.
If you are ready to submit your Declare label for publication, choose Submit for Approval. If you are not entirely confident in the completion of your Declare label, the Living Future team recommends selecting Share for Feedback. This may take additional time for the Living Future team to review and follow up on, but it also has the added benefit of streamlining the Declare submission as any concerns with the label will have already been addressed.
Please note that you will not be able to proceed through this step unless you have an active Living Future membership linked to your 3E account. For details, please review Connect Your Living Future Membership to 3E Exchange.
Upon selecting Submit for Approval, you will be taken to a payment screen. The fee for the label will be detailed in this section, and credit card information must be input unless an invoice has already been paid for the label.
If you have paid for the label via invoice, the Living Future team will have provided a coupon code to discount the Purchase Summary total to zero. Input the code within the Coupon Code box and then select Add Coupon.
After the coupon code has been applied or a credit card number has been input, you must accept the Declare Terms & Conditions to proceed with the purchase.
After the purchase is processed, you will be taken back to My Publications where you can view the status of the label you have submitted. You can check back in this section at any time to view the status of your Declare submission.
At this point, the Living Future team will have received a notice alerting them to your Declare submission. Submission reviews will be completed within 5-7 business days, at which point a member of the Living Future team will reach out with feedback and correction requests, or you will receive an alert from 3E letting you know that your Declare label is ready for approval.
Declare Review Workflow
Once a Declare label is submitted for approval, the Living Future team will review the label within 5-7 business days. After the review, the Living Future team will either follow up with requested changes and feedback or they will determine the next steps in the approval process. Provided below is a rough outline of the workflow in 3E Exchange.
After a Declare label has been reviewed, the Living Future team will either share the label for approval or they will alert the approved third-party verifier that the submitter has selected. No further action is needed during this step until the manufacturer receives feedback from Living Future or the label is shared for approval.
When the label has been shared for approval, the manufacturer will receive an automated email from 3E Exchange. This email will include a link to review the submission. Select that link to view the updated draft label awaiting approval for publication.
This link will take you to My Publications within 3E Exchange. Please download and review the draft label to ensure all information looks correct. This is the last time you will be able to update the label before it is published.
If changes are needed, go back into My Products and update the sections that need to be updated. Afterward, resubmit the label with updates.
If you make changes at this time and resubmit the label with updates, it is advised that you contact declare.support@living-future.org to inform them of the changes that you made.
Once you have reviewed the draft label and you are ready for it to be published, select Approve Declare Label(s).
Publishing the Declare Label
After you have approved the Declare label, the Living Future team will review it one last time, and then proceed with publishing the label for public viewing. Once the label has been published, you will receive an email from the Living Future team alerting you that it is now published and providing you with a digital copy of your label.
You will also have access to a marketing collateral package on your Living Future Community platform by logging in and navigating to the Resource Library, filtering resources by Declare/LPC.
The Declare label will then be available on the Declare Database about 15 minutes after you receive the notice that the label has been published.
Congratulations! By this step, you will have published your Declare label!
Getting Help
If you have any questions about this process and determining if your account has been successfully connected, please contact declare.support@living-future.org.
If you need a 3E Exchange account transferred to another member of your team, please contact support@3eco.com and cc declare.support@living-future.org. In that transfer request, please indicate that you are looking to transfer Declare labels within 3E Exchange from the previous owner to your account.