{"id":9228,"date":"2019-07-04T17:17:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T09:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zhenhub.com\/?p=9228"},"modified":"2022-10-07T18:25:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T10:25:19","slug":"5-things-product-safety-importers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/5-things-product-safety-importers\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post &#8211; 5 Things Importers Must Know About Product Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Reading time: 4 min 37 sec<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are very happy to invite Fredrik Gronkvist from Chinaimportal to write a post for our blog and\u00a0 to help all businesses that are manufacturing their products in China and shipping them to the world. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are some of the potential potholes or issues that many do not know about? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of them is definitely <strong>product safety<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fredrik Gronkvist is a Swedish entrepreneur based in Hong Kong, and the co-founder of Asiaimportal (HK) Limited &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.compliancegate.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a company that operates ComplianceGate.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a portal with free compliance guides and online tools.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<h1><b>5 Things Importers Must Know About Product Safety<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Failing to ensure that your product is safe, correctly labeled and not containing excessive amounts of regulated chemicals is a life and death matter for importers and eCommerce companies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, Fredrik Gronkvist from ComplianceGate.com and Chinaimportal.com, explains the basics of product compliance and why you shouldn\u2019t ask your supplier for advice.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. You must understand the basics<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product safety standards and other compliance requirements differ depending on the product, and the country or region in which you sell. In some cases, you only need to ensure that the product has a country of origin label (e.g. Made in China) while other products are more strictly regulated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, the overall compliance requirements can be broken down into the following components:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product safety standards (e.g. ASTM or EN 71)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chemicals and heavy metals regulations (e.g. REACH or CA Prop 65)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Labeling requirements (e.g. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.compliancegate.com\/european-union-clothing-textiles-regulations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Care Labels<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, CE mark, Country of Origin, FCC mark)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Documentation requirements (e.g. CPC, GCC, DoC)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Laboratory testing requirements<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From a more practical perspective, you\u2019ll need to follow this process:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Submit product samples for lab testing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create label files<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create documentation\/certification<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Don\u2019t expect help from your supplier in Asia<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confused and unsure where to start, many importers seek guidance from their suppliers in Mainland China or elsewhere in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This often makes things worse, as sales reps working for factories generally only have a vague understanding of product regulations in the US, EU, Australia, and other countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, they often tell their customers that they got things under control, or that \u2018their other customers from the same country don\u2019t have these requirements\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Acting based on your supplier&#8217;s decision can end in total disaster, as the sole responsibility to ensure compliance lies on your as an importer &#8211; not them. If the cargo is destroyed by the customs authorities, then that\u2019s your loss. Not theirs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or worse, if someone is injured, then you\u2019ll be financially liable while your supplier will walk away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manufacturers are not compliance experts. They may have a vague awareness that product regulations exist, but you should never seek their advice on these matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Lab testing is the only way to be sure that your product is safe<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s extremely rare that contract manufacturers in Asia have their own in house laboratory testing. In order to verify that your products are compliant you must, therefore, book lab testing, as this is the only way to be sure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s worth noting that third-party lab testing is not mandatory for most product categories. Yet, you\u2019re always liable if the product is deemed unsafe or found to contain excessive amounts of restricted chemicals or heavy metals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verifying that your product is safe is in your interest as an importer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lab testing can be booked online, for example from QIMA or Intertek. However, all lab tests are paid for by the buyer &#8211; a cost which depends entirely on the number of products and standards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Amazon is getting tougher on non-compliant products<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hoverboards used to be all the rage a few years back. The only problem was that many models contained high-capacity, yet low quality, lithium batteries which tended to explode.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon reacted swiftly by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2015\/dec\/14\/amazon-pulls-hoverboards-over-safety-fears\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pulling almost all hoverboard listings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and refusing them to get back up until the sellers could provide UL product safety test reports valid for their products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Guess what, most had none and never sold another unit again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon is only getting stricter as product safety is a top concern, and they have little patience for smaller sellers trying to list harmful products on their website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, if you look at it from the bright side it\u2019ll also help you keep the \u2018low quality and undercutting\u2019 competitors out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. And, so is your freight forwarder and fulfillment partner<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For years, consumer safety authorities have struggled to keep up with the never-ending flow of imports and cross-border ecommerce shipments. In recent years, governments have been taking steps to shift the responsibility to economic operators in the supply chain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The European Union recently went as far as specifically mentioning that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chemicalwatch.com\/75961\/draft-eu-enforcement-regulation-a-rohs-compliance-burden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fulfillment centers will be responsible<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to ensure that the delivered products are compliant with product safety standards. This also applies to non-EU based companies, such as exporters based in China and the US, selling to the EU.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, you can expect your freight forwarder and fulfillment partner to request full compliance documentation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, this is something we\u2019re already seeing happen frequently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading time: 4 min 37 sec We are very happy to invite Fredrik Gronkvist from Chinaimportal to write a post for our blog and\u00a0 to help all businesses that are manufacturing their products in China and shipping them to the world. What are some of the potential potholes or issues &#8230; <a title=\"Guest Post &#8211; 5 Things Importers Must Know About Product Safety\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/5-things-product-safety-importers\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Guest Post &#8211; 5 Things Importers Must Know About Product Safety\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-manufacturing"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"vince","author_link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/author\/vince\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-300x180.png","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"vince","author_link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/author\/vince\/"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1.png",2065,1239,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-300x180.png",300,180,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-768x461.png",768,461,true],"large":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-1024x614.png",1024,614,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-1536x922.png",1536,922,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-2048x1229.png",2048,1229,true],"gb-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-600x400.png",600,400,true],"gb-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1-600x600.png",600,600,true],"crp_thumbnail":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Banner-4-1.png",150,90,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"vince","author_link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/author\/vince\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Reading time: 4 min 37 sec We are very happy to invite Fredrik Gronkvist from Chinaimportal to write a post for our blog and\u00a0 to help all businesses that are manufacturing their products in China and shipping them to the world. What are some of the potential potholes or issues ... Read more","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/category\/business\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Business<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/category\/manufacturing\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Manufacturing<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Business<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Manufacturing<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 7 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 4, 2019","modified":"Updated on October 7, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 4, 2019 5:17 pm","modified":"Updated on October 7, 2022 6:25 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13530,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9228\/revisions\/13530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}