Explanations of Compliance Requirements When Buying in China

Here are some interesting or useful articles that I found recently.

Product Testing and Certification when Buying from China

Fredrik Grönkvist wrote a very good guide for importers who are not familiar with their country’s compliance requirements. This article includes:

• How to find what testing is applicable
• What determines the cost of testing
• What importers must do vs. what is of lower importance

And he wrote three other in-depth articles and CE marking, REACH, and California Prop 65.

How to Improve Quality in a Chinese Factory (video on Youtube)

David Collins, a manufacturing veteran, gives a great overview of the tools at the disposal of manufacturers that want to improve their quality level. (Disclosure: I am a partner in David’s company.)

China Product Development Contracts: The Questions We Ask

Dan Harris outlines the questions each importer should clarify before engaging in a new product development with a Chinese supplier. I have helped a lot of importers who didn’t follow such a process and lost large sums. Very helpful!

The Postal Service is losing millions a year to help you buy cheap stuff from China

Sending products one by one, from Chinese factories or from a warehouse in Hong Kong, directly to consumers can be very inexpensive. Particularly for delivering to American consumers, as explained in this article.