What’s New:
The Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) is a new scheme within the CCC marking program administered by the Chinese government branch CNCA. This scheme gives manufacturers some additional flexibility in the certification process, potentially reducing certification times and cost. This new scheme was updated in October of 2019, at which time several product categories were added to the list of SDoC eligible devices and a transition time was established before SDoC becomes mandatory. For more information on products affected and SDoC details, see What is China’s SDoC.
Challenges Obtaining and Maintaining CCC Certification
Getting certification in a fast, expedient manner should be the goal for any certification plan regardless of whether it is required to get products released from China customs, or it has just been determined that the China market is a good fit for a new product line. There may be several roadblocks to a smooth certification process depending on the chosen path. The following obstacles have been known to slow product entry into the China market:
- SDoC Process is new and difficult to navigate
- Test samples are delayed in shipping, or get stuck in China customs
- Details get lost in translation from representative to Chinese certification agency
- Products malfunction or fail during testing
- Model number interpretations require multiple certifications
- Delays in scheduling or failures during initial factory inspection
- Certificates or certification standards expire, invalidating certification
How Can We Help?
G&M Compliance’s Beijing office was established in 2005. Our experienced personnel in both the U.S. and China utilize the following practices to achieve a fast and efficient certification experience:
- We have worked with early adopters of SDoC, and have successfully obtained SDoC certificates even during the optional phase of the program
- Assist in shipping samples, and maintain good relationships with customs clearance agencies to expedite the clearance process
- Rely on China team’s experience to communicate directly with customers and minimize communication gaps.
- Troubleshoot sample issues on-site, even during testing, to keep the process moving forward
- Keep up-to-date with changing model number requirements, and help devise model naming conventions to maximize certification coverage.
- Arranges for a timely factory inspection upon completion of testing, and provide a certified inspector to assist during factory inspections
- Track and alert customers of upcoming annual renewals of CCC certificates, label/mark certificates and annual factory inspections with G&M’s Certificate Alert and Tracking System (CATS)
For more information, additional questions, or to request a quote – Please submit an online RFQ, Contact Us, or call.
For electrical products, depending on the type of equipment, certifications other than CCC may be required for China. Among these are SRRC for wireless products, CEL for products that have energy requirements, CCIS for products requiring information security certification, and NAL for equipment connecting to the public network. More detailed information can be found by clicking on the links to these specific services. For more information about what certifications are required for your product please contact us.
Sometimes it is difficult for China customs officials to determine whether certain product types require CCC or not. In cases where CCC does not apply to a certain product type, but China customs officials believe that it does, a CCC exemption notice will serve as the final determining factor. We have found that the most effective exemption notices come straight from Chinese certification bodies, and not from U.S. or European based testing agencies. Contact us for more information on CCC exemptions.
Mark – A CCC certification mark is required to be placed on the product
In-Country Representative: Not required for traditional CCC scheme, but is required for SDoC.
In-Country Testing: Required. Local testing is also possible, pending laboratory accreditation and periodic witness testing
Expiration Details – Traditional CCC certificates are valid for 5 years and SDoC certificates are valid for 10, after which time they need to be renewed. Renewal is generally a paperwork transaction with no need to send samples. For more information on tracking certifications please see our CATS page
Product Surveillance – Factory follow-up inspections, conducted by the certification body are required for the traditional CCC scheme. The SDoC scheme may require a “self-factory inspection”. These inspections generally occur once a year. Market surveillance is also possible, generally for products sold retail
We have found that often times certification bottlenecks can occur within a manufacturer’s organization. As a result, we offer a service to provide internal help managing regulatory certification tasks. Because G&M is not a certification body, we are in a unique position to offer valuable regulatory expertise without any conflict of interest issues. In such cases we place G&M certification experts into our customers’ organizations to manage the certification process for them. Once on the inside, our managers can leverage G&Ms collective experience to guide certification processes in an efficient and cost-effective manner. To learn more about this service see our Homologation Management Service Page.
Untimely expirations of certificates can cause delays in product deliveries. Re-certification of products will generally be treated as new submittals instead of certificate renewals. This can be time-consuming and costly. G&M provides a web-based certification tracking system that alerts users when expirations are coming, provides on-line storage of important certification documentation, and is searchable by certification specific criteria. For more information on this system see our CATS page.