What certifications do I need for US/EU imports?
Short Answer: It Depends on Product and Market - US Needs FCC / CPSC / FDA / Prop 65, the EU Needs CE / RoHS / REACH / EN 71, and Great Britain Needs UKCA
There is no single certificate that covers everything. The requirement is driven by what the product is and where it lands. For the United States: FCC for anything with a radio or electronics, CPSC rules for children's and general consumer safety, FDA for food, cosmetics and health items, and California Prop 65 for listed chemicals. For the European Union: CE marking for most products against the relevant EN standard, RoHS and REACH for substance limits, and EN 71 specifically for toys. Great Britain post-Brexit uses UKCA alongside CE. None of this is optional - non-compliant goods can be seized, recalled or trigger liability. Your supplier should hand over current, product-specific test reports from an accredited lab such as SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or TUV, dated within the last 12 months. Confirm the exact requirements for your category before you place the order, not after the container is on the water.
Certification Follows the Product and the Market
Buyers often ask for 'the certificate' as if one document unlocks every border. It does not work that way. Regulators classify by product category and by risk, so a Bluetooth speaker, a plush toy and a face cream travel three completely different compliance paths into the same country.
Get the category right first. Everything else - which lab, which standard, which mark - falls out of that answer.
| Market | Core requirements | Typical trigger |
|---|---|---|
| United States | FCC, CPSC, FDA, Prop 65 | Radio / children / ingestible / listed chemicals |
| European Union | CE, RoHS, REACH, EN 71 | Most goods / electronics / substances / toys |
| Great Britain | UKCA (CE in some cases) | Same categories as EU, own designated standards |
| Northern Ireland | EU/CE rules | Windsor Framework |
United States: FCC, CPSC, FDA and Prop 65
The US system is enforced by several agencies, each owning a slice. You may need one, two or all four depending on the item.
European Union: CE, RoHS, REACH and EN 71
The EU leans on harmonized standards. CE is the umbrella declaration, and underneath it sits the specific EN standard your product must be tested against. RoHS and REACH police what the product is made of rather than what it does.
| Mark / rule | What it covers | Evidence you should hold |
|---|---|---|
| CE | Health, safety, environment | Test report + Declaration of Conformity |
| RoHS | Restricted hazardous substances | Lab report per material |
| REACH | Chemical registration and SVHC | Substance declaration |
| EN 71 | Toy safety (parts 1, 2, 3) | Age-graded toy test report |
EN 71-1 covers mechanical and physical, EN 71-2 flammability, EN 71-3 migration of elements.
Great Britain After Brexit: UKCA Alongside CE
Great Britain now runs its own conformity mark. It mirrors CE closely, but the designated standards and the approved bodies differ, and for some categories the CE mark is only accepted during a transitional window. If you sell into both the EU and GB, plan for two declarations rather than assuming one covers the other.
- Assuming CE covers GB True only for some categories, and only for now.
- No UK authorized representative Several categories require one.
- Same file for both markets Standards and DoC differ.
- Northern Ireland treated as GB It follows EU/CE rules instead.
What a Usable Test Report Actually Contains
A certificate that names the supplier but not the product is decoration, not compliance. Before you accept anything, run it through this filter.
Case: The Speaker That Shipped Without FCC
The supplier sent a glossy 'CE certificate' and the buyer assumed it was enough for a US launch. The product had a radio module, which meant FCC Part 15 testing was mandatory, and the CE document said nothing about it.
How RND SOURCING Handles Compliance
We start every new category by naming the exact requirements for your destination market before the first sample is quoted, because compliance is far cheaper to design in than to retrofit. Then we collect the test reports ourselves and check the model number, the lab, the date and the standard line by line against your product - not against the supplier's marketing folder. When a report does not hold up, we say so early and either arrange the correct test or move to a supplier who already has it. Twelve years of shipping into the US and EU has taught us that the expensive failures are almost always the ones nobody checked before deposit.
Ask us to review your compliance requirementsRelated Questions
- How do I verify a supplier's test report is real?
- What is CE marking and when is it required?
- How do I ensure my product meets US CPSC / Prop 65?
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