Starting on the 1st of August 2003, exported products to the People's Republic of China without CCC mark may be held at the border by Chinese Customs and subject to other penalties.
The new CCC mark conformity system will impact greatly many manufacturers across a wide range of sectors who export to the China market, especially those who have been exporting to China in the past and are not ready yet for the new system.
Below is a brief description of the procedures toward the CCC mark conformity, written by the CCC Team at Wellkang® Tech Consulting:
Step One:Determine WHETHER Your Products Require CCC Mark
1.1 First of all, you need to determine whether your products require the CCC Mark.
This can generally be done by studying the
list of products subject to CCC Mark. There are totally 19 groups of products divided into 132 product categories on this list.
Component parts of finished products, spare parts and replacement parts, may in some cases require CCC certification.
Should your products fall into any, or more that one, of the 132 product categories, you will generally be required to apply for the CCC mark.
study the table of products requiring the CCC mark versusHS codes (Harmonized System number.) This table covers 10 chapters totally 323 headings or sub-headings;
1.2 Do your products qualify for an exemption from the CCC application?
In certain circumstances products requiring the CCC mark may qualify for exemption from the CCC application process. Please learn more at CCC Exemption Guide.
Step Two:Self-assessment Prior To Application For CCC Certification
Products applied for CCC certification must conform to Chinese standards and/or other additional technical requirements.
The CCC system is based on the Chinese GB Standards, GB stands for "Guo Biao" in Chinese which means literaturely "National Standards".
Because the testing and assessment for the CCC conformity system is based on the mandatory Chinese "GB Standards" and the CCC application may take several months to be completed, it can certainly save both time and money for the non-Chinese manufacturers to make a self-assessment, on the design-level, of their products against the Chinese GB Standards.
The Implementation Rules Booklet provides with numerous "GB Standards" and, in many cases, the corresponding international standards such as IEC standards.
If you are not familiar with the GB Standards, get professional assistance from CCC Mark consultancy such as Wellkang Tech Consulting.
Step Three:Apply For CCC Certification
3.1 Determine WHICH Authorized Certification Body
Application for the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) must be submitted to one Authorized Certification Body (ACB) by the manufacturer itself or its authorized consultant/agent.
Chinese government agency CNCA- Certification and Accreditation Administration has designated so far totally 9 Authorized Certification Bodies (ACBs).
Each of the Authorized Certification Body has been assigned with specific Designated Certification Scopes which cover one or more of the 132 product categories on the list of products subject to CCC Mark.
Except for 2 ACBs, the Designated Certification Scopes of other 7 ACBs do not overlap one another. Each ACB can only issue the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) for the products within its own Designated Certification Scope. In other words, CCC certification for products within one of the 132 product categories on the list of products subject to CCC Mark can only been issued by one (in some cases two) of the 9 ACBs.
3.2 Submit to the Authorized Certification Body
3.2.1 Holders of Old CCIB and/or CCEE Certifications
Up on application, the holders of the old CCIB and/or CCEE Certifications are entitled to exchange their valid old certifications for the new CCC certifications. The application for exchanging the certification can be submitted by the manufacturer itself or its authorized consultant/agent.
3.2.2 New Applicants
If the applicant does not hold any valid CCIB and/or CCEE Certification, they must submit a CCC application with supporting materials to the related ACB. The ACB will conduct an initial review and study of the application.
If the application does not conform to the basic requirements, ACB will refuse the application and return the related application materials to the applicant, in some cases, the applicant may re-prepare the application and supporting materials and re-submit the application.
If the application conforms to the basic requirements, an Acceptance Notice from the ACB will be sent to the applicant. The applicant can then go to the next step, i.e. send samples to a CNCA-accredited test laboratory for Type Testing.
Although some ACBs may accept application and supporting materials in English, it is obviously more practical and time-saving to submit the application and supporting materials in Chinese.
CNCA has designated so far totally 76 (ATL), all in China Mainland, for conducting the Type Testing, based on the Chinese GB Standards, and issuing the Testing Reports.
Similarly to the ACB-Authorized Certification Body, each ATL- Accredited Testing Lab has been designated with specific "product scope" corresponding to one or more of the 132 product categories on the list of products subject to CCC Mark.
The working language for majority of the ATLs is Chinese. According to the latest research conducted by the CCC Team of Wellkang Tech Consulting, as of the May 1, 2003, there are 45 (out 76) ATLs having their own websites designated for CCC certification. The majority of these 45 websites are available only in the Chinese language.
3.4 On-site Factory Inspection and Audit.
Generally speaking, the ACB will send inspector(s) to inspect and audit the manufacturing facilities for the products.
3.5 Evaluation of Results and Approval.
The ACB will assess the Testing Reports issued by the Accredited Testing Lab and result of the Factory Inspection.
If the evaluation results meet the CCC requirement, the ACB will issue a China Compulsory Certification (CCC certification) to the manufacturer or its agent.
If the evaluation results do not meet the CCC requirement, the ACB will inform the applicant about the reasons of failure. The applicant may re-apply for CCC certification after correcting its unqualified items.
Step Four:Purchase or Print the CCC Mark Labels
Providing the CNCA with the CCC Certification issued by one of the 9 ACBs, the manufacturer or its agent can purchase the ready-made self-adhesive CCC Mark labels from the CNCA then affix it on the products. There are currently 4 models of CCC marks (S, EMC, S&EMC and F) at 5 different sizes (8mm, 15mm, 30mm, 45mm and 60mm) for purchasing.
The CCC certification holder may also apply, to one of the Printing Houses designated by the CNCA, for printing its own CCC mark labels.
Step Five:Supervision After Certification.
The ACB exercises regular supervision over the CCC-qualified manufacturers to ensure the quality of their products meet the standards. Generally speaking, manufacturing facilities for the products need to be re-inspected/audited by inspectors designated by the ACB every 12-18 months.
Appeal, complaint and dispute
If the applicant disagree with the ACB on the result of a CCC application, they may complain or appeal to this ACB and ask for re-consideration, or appeal to the CNCA.
