Electronics are the most certification-heavy products you can import. CE, FCC, RoHS, UKCA, UL — the alphabet can be intimidating, and fake certificates are common. This guide explains which marks your market actually needs, whose responsibility they are, and how to check that the paperwork is real.
Which marks for which market
- EU market: CE (safety & EMC) and RoHS (restricted substances) are the essentials for most electronics; some products need WEEE registration and REACH compliance
- US market: FCC for anything that emits radio frequencies (including unintentional emitters); UL/ETL listing is not legally required but retailers and insurers often demand it; energy efficiency (Energy Star/DoE) applies to many appliances
- UK market: UKCA replaced CE for many goods after Brexit — check current requirements for your product
- Other regions: Australia (RCM), Japan (PSE), Saudi (SASO), etc.
Whose job is it?
Legally, certification is usually the importer’s (your) responsibility — you are the one placing the product on the market. In practice, a factory that exports regularly will have test reports for its standard products and can often arrange testing for your custom version. But you cannot simply trust a scanned PDF: counterfeit certificates circulate widely.
How to verify a certificate
- Check the issuing body. Only accredited labs can issue valid CE/FCC/RoHS reports (e.g. TÜV, SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas, UL). Look up the report number on the lab’s verification page
- Match the details. Model number, brand, applicant and product description on the certificate must match your product exactly — a certificate for a different model is worthless
- Confirm the standard and date. Old reports may reference superseded standards
- Ask for the full test report, not just the certificate page
Practical order of operations
Before production: agree in writing which certifications the factory provides and which you arrange. Ideally test the final product from the production line, not the hand-made sample — results can differ. Budget both money and time (weeks, not days) for testing. If your product fails, rework at the factory is far cheaper than a rejected shipment at customs — one more reason to inspect before shipping, as covered in our AQL inspection guide.
Tell us your target market and product and we will list exactly which certificates you need — and arrange accredited testing from Shenzhen labs. Ask us.