Product Compliance Basics: 4 Common Questions

Product compliance is often a source of stress and confusion for importers and Amazon sellers. In this article, I answer some of the most fundamental questions about this topic, that will help you start off on the right path.

Overview

1. Who is responsible for ensuring that the product is compliant?

2. How do I know which standards and regulations apply to my product?

3. How do I make sure that my product is compliant?

4. What can happen if my product is not compliant?

1. Who is responsible for ensuring that the product is compliant?

The importer is essentially always responsible for ensuring that their imported products are fully compliant. What this means in practice can be summarized as follows:

1. Confirm all mandatory and applicable product regulations (e.g., REACH, CA Prop 65, RoHS, Low Voltage Directive)

2. Confirm all mandatory and applicable product standards (e.g. ASTM F963, EN 71, UL 1642)

3. Confirm all mandatory and applicable labeling requirements (e.g. country of origin and CE mark)

4. Confirm all mandatory and applicable documentation and certification requirements (e.g. Declaration of Conformity (DoC), User Manual, Children’s Product Certificate (CPC), GCC, Technical file, etc).

5. Submit products for lab testing

6. Verify that the product is correctly labeled before shipment

7. Create all required documentation

It may be easy to assume that you can ask your supplier in China, or elsewhere in Asia, for guidance. However, as experienced buyers know, manufacturers are not compliance experts. In other words, most factories simply don’t know which regulations and standards apply to their product.

Instead, it’s up to the importer to confirm all requirements outlined above and provide the specific compliance requirements and standards that the supplier must follow.

Now, back to the question of responsibility. Even in case, a certain regulation doesn’t explicitly state that the importer is responsible - this is still the ‘de facto’ situation.

Imagine a scenario in which you import and sell a non-compliant product. Someone reports your product for some reason. As a result, the authorities (e.g. CPSC) will investigate the product and may then issue a forced recall.

This means that you, as an importer, must essentially contact your customers and instruct them to return the non-compliant products. You may either refund the customers or provide a replacement. Doing so equals an economic disaster for your company.

Now, what about the supplier on the other side of the planet?

They’ll walk away as if nothing happened.

There are a couple of things to consider here:

1. Market surveillance authorities cannot go after suppliers in foreign countries. For example, EU product regulations apply within the EU - not outside.

2. Even if they did go after overseas suppliers, you’d still end up losing money. It would be absurd if market surveillance authorities actually compensated importers who were caught selling illegal and non-compliant products.

3. Your final option would be to take the supplier to the court in their country, but that’s a very costly and time-consuming process.

There we have it. The importer is always responsible.

2. How do I know which standards and regulations apply to my product?

The main challenge is often not the practical compliance process itself, but confirming which regulations, standards and general requirements applying to a certain product.

Here are some ways you can do so:

Testing companies

Lab testing companies normally offer free quotations. When providing a lab test quote, they also list the standards and tests they base the quote on. While the quotes generally don’t include labeling requirements, documentation, and certification requirement, it’s still a good start.

Service Providers

Service providers like Product IP and CE Check EU offer regulatory assessment services and software, which also offers a cost-effective way to find out which regulations apply to a certain product.

Government Websites

Product regulations are normally published on various government websites. However, these regulations are often written in a way that’s open for interpretation. In other words, the average importer will struggle to make sense of it.

Further, most countries divide responsibility between different authorities. In other words, one website may contain information about regulations applicable to children’s products, while another covers electronics and machinery. It’s hard to get an overview.

However, some official websites do a great job of providing information that importers and manufacturers can actually understand. I like cpsc.gov in particular, as they offer clear and easy to understand guides. In addition, they also offer a free support service called the Small Business Ombudsman.

3. How do I make sure that my product is compliant?

Product lab testing is ultimately the only way to verify that your product is compliant. I recommend that testing takes place before the products are shipped. Sometimes, testing at the prototype stage is necessary.

That said, the process often starts on the drawing board.

When it comes to products such as toys and electronics, the common practice is to ‘design for compliance’ according to product standards such as ASTM F-963 or UL 1642.

4. What can happen if my product is not compliant?

This depends on the severity of the situation. Here are a few examples:

Incorrectly labeled products: You may be given a chance to re-label the product. However, the products may be refused entry by the customs.

Safety issues: Unsafe toys and electronics, for example, may be subject to a forced recall at any time. Note that all mandatory documentation must also be in place.

But, who is actually out there making sure products are compliant?

Here are a few examples:

Sellers may need to provide test reports and other compliance documents at any time. This often happens after a product is listed. If you don’t have valid test reports and other compliance documents, then expect your listings to be taken down.

Market Surveillance Authorities: Consumers can report unsafe and otherwise non-compliant products directly to the relevant authorities, who may then start an investigation. They also make purchases from online stores and take products for spot testing - or even inspect stores.

Customs Authorities: The customs do have testing equipment, and conduct random product label checks and document checks.

Retailers: They often have compliance teams that verify that their suppliers can provide all relevant compliance documents.