American importer often ask us questions about the compliance documents they need when importing products from China.
I thought it would be interesting to ask Fredrik Gronkvist, from Chinaimportal.com, to answer the most frequent questions we get asked about US compliance. He has a firm grasp on this complex topic that can seem complex and confusing.
1. Do I actually need some documents to prove that my products are compliant with US safety regulations?
Documentation is in many ways part of the compliance process itself. Some documents are only self-issued declarations, while other documents are used to prove that the product is actually compliant.
In CPSIA, which is the regulation applicable to all children’s products in the USA, you need to issue or obtain the following documents:
- Children’s Product Certificate (Self issued)
- ASTM Test Reports (Must be issued by an accredited third party lab)
- Lab testing plan (Issued by yourself)
The Children’s Product Certificate, for example, is very easy to issue. Use this template, print and sign. That’s it. The same principle also applies to the lab testing plan.
Lab testing is different, as you must submit a sample to a compliance testing company, such as Intertek.
2. How to find information on what documents I need?
There are various ways you can find out which regulations apply to a certain product:
a. Hire a lawyer or consultant
The best way to find out exactly what kind of documents and test reports you need (and labels), is to hire a lawyer or consultant.
These guys don’t offer insurance, in the sense that they guarantee that their assessment is 100% correct – but the risk of compliance issues is way lower compared to that case where you try to figure out everything by yourself.
They normally charge from US$2000 for less complex products, and up to $7000 for more complex items.
b. Chinaimportal Starter Package 2018
We offer a ‘do it yourself’ platform for importers, that includes tutorials, checklists, videos, and even sample compliance documents for the following product categories:
- Apparel & textiles
- Kitchen Utensils
- Electronics
- Children’s Products
- Watches, jewelry & accessories
This is probably the most affordable solution, but we don’t actually create the compliance documents for you.
PS: We offer a USD 100 discount this week on all Starter Packages. Use the code CI-JUNE2018 in the checkout on www.chinaimportal.com to get USD 100 off.
c. Spend 50 hours browsing the internet
The other option is to research regulations and document requirements on your own. www.cpsc.gov and various other US government websites are actually pretty good, but understanding what applies to a certain product is very time consuming.
And, of course, these websites don’t explain the practicalities of ensuring compliance when importing from other countries.
3. Can I trust what my suppliers tell me, and the documents they send to me?
Never. First of all, it’s not the supplier’s job to issue these documents.
Second, Chinese suppliers virtually never ever have compliance documents. This is also the case for larger suppliers, as compliance documents are issued by the Importer – not their supplier.
I have overseen hundreds of supplier screenings in China. Not one single supplier has ever had a complete set of compliance documents.
Another good example is when a client of ours managed to identify a supplier of IKEA, in Ningbo. They assumed that this supplier had a complete set of compliance documents required for LED products.
It turned out that had nothing. Why? Because IKEA takes care of that. They issue the documents, they book lab testing.
Factories are not compliance agencies. It’s not what they do.
At best, a supplier can present an old test report, which can help you assess if a supplier ever made a compliant product in the past – but forget about finding ‘ready-made-compliant products’.
4. For the products I buy off-the-shelf from Chinese suppliers, should I pay for testing on every shipment?
The truth is that lab testing is not legally required for most products. However, you are always the sole party responsible for ensuring that the imported products are compliant.
Lab testing is the only way to be sure that the products are compliant, and you’d better confirm that before the goods are shipped from China to your country. You can’t get a “refund” if it turns out that your products are subject to a forced recall – or if you face a lawsuit.
Most of our customers don’t do lab testing on every order. Instead, they do lab testing for these scenarios.
- When placing a first order for any product
- Whenever they change colors, materials or other components
- If a supplier failed a lab test
It depends though. CPSIA, for example, requires that you have a written lab test plan. CPSIA doesn’t force you to test every order, but you need to explain how often you intend to test, and why.
That said, this is not unique to off-the-shelf goods, but all products – both ODM and OEM. Just keep in mind that off-the-shelf goods made in China, are often made for China. Such products are not made to comply with foreign labeling and safety requirements.
Yet, lab testing is still mostly for your own sake.
5. For the new product I am developing with a Chinese OEM manufacturer, at what stage should I think of certifications? As soon as the design stage? Should I let the manufacturer handle that?
Rule number one of product safety is that your product is safe to use, even if used ‘incorrectly’. For many products, there are specific standards to comply with – some of which are mandatory, while others are voluntary.
Such standards list design safety practices, physical properties and other performance guidelines. There are various groups of such standards:
- EN (General, EU)
- IEC (Electrical, International)
- UL and ETL (Electrical, USA)
- ASTM and ANSI (General, USA)
However, these standards don’t cover every product or safety aspect. It’s up to you to ensure that the product is safe by design. In other words, compliance start at the design stage.
Rule number two is that you should never let your supplier handle anything when it comes to compliance – because factory managers are not product safety consultants. It’s really that simple.
I know many buyers think that the supplier “should know” this or that, but it’s not realistic to expect sales rep ‘John Chen’ in Shenzhen to keep up to date with every single product regulation in every country on the planet.
Learn more on Chinaimportal.com
As I previously mentioned, we offer a ‘do it yourself’ platform for importers, that includes tutorials, checklists, videos and even sample compliance documents for the following product categories:
- Apparel & textiles
- Kitchen Utensils
- Electronics
- Children’s Products
- Watches, jewelry & accessories
This is probably the most affordable solution, but we don’t actually create the compliance documents for you.
PS: We offer a USD 100 discount this week on all Starter Packages. Use the code CI-JUNE2018 in the checkout on www.chinaimportal.com to get USD 100 off.
Disclaimer
We are not lawyers. What we wrote above is based only on our understanding of the regulatory requirements. QualityInspection.org does not present this information as a basis for you to make decisions, and we do not accept any liability if you do so.
Many good points made in this article. Let me add a few further comments.
First is that it’s tricky to define what is “required” by US law. There is an important principle the importer needs to understand. There are two different aspects to US law:
1. Statutory law and regulation – these are specific laws enacted by the US or state legislatures, and usually followed up with detailed regulations. The CPSIA referred to above is an example of that.
2. “Due diligence” expectations under contract and tort law: In addition to the actual statutes and regulations, the reality of the US legal system is that importers bear a number of implied duties to ensure the safety and proper function of goods they import. For example, in the field of aftermarket replacement auto parts, there are very few specific regulations. But, as a practical matter my auto parts clients test their import products against the regulations applicable to original equipment parts. We do this for several reasons. First of all, we want to be able to represent our products as being comparable to the original equipment parts. In order to do this we need to have hard evidence to show that our claims are true. Second, in the event of a problem, product failure or suspicion, we need to have evidence that we followed reasonable professional practices in evaluating the products. Thankfully I’ve never been actually called into a courtroom to defend our products… but if I were, we’d have records and proof that we’ve followed good professional practice in testing the products.
One final point – there is a very helpful resource published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding procedures for product recall. While this guidebook is oriented toward auto parts, it gives a very good overview of how to plan for and conduct a safety recall for any product. Critically, it discusses what you need to do in your normal purchasing and sales processes to prepare for this hopefully never needed event. Search for the “Recall Compendium” — currently available at this web address: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/documents/recompendium.pdf
Many thanks, Brad!
I will look at that ‘recall compendium’.. Interesting!