A third-party certification body refers to an institution that has the necessary ability to implement the certification system reliably and can engage in certification activities objectively, fairly and independently in the certification process. That is, the certification body is a third-party body with independent legal personality, independent of manufacturers, sellers and users (consumers), so it is called a third-party certification body.
Basic information
Competent department: China National Certification and Accreditation Administration.
Requirements for establishing a third-party certification body:
(1) Having a fixed place and necessary facilities;
(2) Having a management system that meets the requirements of certification and accreditation;
(3) Its registered capital is not less than 3 million yuan;
(4) Full-time Certification staff with corresponding fields above 10.
Third-party certification institutions engaged in product certification activities should also have technical capabilities such as testing and inspection (which can be outsourced) that are suitable for engaging in related product certification activities.
The establishment of a third-party certification institution for foreign investment shall meet the following conditions in addition to the above requirements:
(1) The foreign investor has been recognized by a recognized institution in the country or region where it is located;
(2) The foreign investor has more than 3 years of business experience in certification activities.
The application, approval and registration of the establishment of a foreign-invested certification body shall be handled in accordance with the relevant foreign investment laws, administrative regulations and relevant state regulations.
The present situation and layout of China.
Judging from the development layout of domestic third-party certification and testing institutions, their branches are mainly concentrated in domestic coastal cities, extending to coastal cities with the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta as the center. From north to south, we have set up branches in Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other cities. It mainly includes TUV in Germany, SGS in Switzerland, INTERTEK in Britain, BVQI in France and UL in the United States. They are the most prestigious authoritative certification body for independent third-party product safety testing and quality management system certification in the world. These companies are also the main authoritative third-party certification bodies in China and have a good reputation internationally.
At the development stage of China,
The development of third-party certification bodies in China has gone through the stage from single business to diversified business. Because the competition in the third-party certification market in China is not fierce, and the customer base is relatively fixed, these international certification institutions are all in the rising stage of market scale development, but their business focuses are different. For example, Rheinland China Group includes TUV Rheinland, TUV Nande and TUV Peking University. TUV Rheinland 1989 entered the China market, and has set up seven branches or offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Dalian, TUV Nande 1993 entered China and TUV Bede 1999 entered China. After the merger and market reorganization in 2007, TUV Rheinland and TUV Nande both have businesses in China, and they have obvious advantages in medical device certification and automobile certification. INTERTEK (UK) is one of the largest third-party certification and testing institutions in China. 1989 The joint venture company (Shenzhen Tianxiang Quality Technology Service Co., Ltd.) established in Shenzhen is the first foreign-funded testing institution to enter the China market, mainly engaged in textile testing. With the continuous growth of business, INTERTEK has set up more than 30 laboratories and more than 70 branches in more than 40 cities in China, with a total population of 5,000. It consists of five main business departments: commercial electronics and electricity, consumer goods services, government services, risk management, petrochemical and agricultural products services. UL Safety Testing Laboratory of the United States and China Import and Export Commodity Inspection Company jointly established a joint venture certification company-UL Meihua Certification Co., Ltd., which officially opened in June 2003. Establish independent laboratories in Suzhou and Beijing. China has become the largest overseas market of UL company outside the United States, with more than 7 authorized factories in UL, accounting for 1 1.5% of the authorized factories in the world, and growing at a rate of 20% every year. The laboratory can provide safety testing for audio-visual products, lighting, household appliances, information technology equipment, motors, power tools and other products.
Since 1990s, SGS Switzerland has registered 33 branches in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen. Business scope: consumer goods, automobiles, minerals, petroleum, agriculture, government and public agency services. French BVQI started its business in Chinese mainland on 1996, and set up offices and liaison offices in 14, mainly focusing on system certification. On June 5438+1October 65438+May, 2007, CSA, the most famous product certification institution in North America, officially launched the bathroom product testing and certification service in Chinese mainland. In June, 2007, KEMA Company of the Netherlands became the official laboratory for testing the CB system project in Wenzhou, China. KEMA became the first independent foreign testing laboratory in the field of industrial electrical components testing in China. In addition, German VDE, Japanese JQA, South African SABS and other internationally renowned certification bodies have also accelerated the pace of entering the China market.
Reasons for development in China
(1) environmental problems promote the development of third-party testing and certification institutions in China. Nowadays, environmental problems have become the focus of global attention. The European Union, the United States, Japan and other countries have formulated laws and regulations to protect the environment, and the implementation of the laws and regulations is stricter and the scope is also expanded. Such as RoHS &；; WEEE directive has been implemented in Europe, which is about restricting the use of harmful substances in electronic and electrical equipment, with the aim of prohibiting the use of substances harmful to the environment in electronic products. The directive stipulates that heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBDE and polybrominated biphenyls are strictly prohibited. WEEE is a "directive on waste electronic and electrical equipment", which will ensure that products can be properly treated after use and make suppliers bear the economic responsibility of recycling the generated electronic product waste. This undoubtedly puts forward higher requirements for China's export enterprises. All electronic products entering the European market after July 2006 need to comply with RoHS &；; WEEE requirements. In China's Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, electronic products export enterprises are dense, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and the products exported to EU member countries urgently need to meet the requirements of the directive. In this situation, domestic third-party testing institutions have launched ROHS testing, providing professional testing and related testing report services for China electronic product manufacturers, and helping China products enter the European market smoothly. The testing results of products of China export enterprises by third-party testing institutions directly affect the decisions of foreign buyers, and environmental factors will establish a closer emotional bond between products and buyers, among which authoritative third-party certification will undoubtedly increase the confidence of buyers.
(B) The growth of international trade in China has also promoted the development of third-party certification bodies. In the past 30 years since the reform and opening up in China, a large number of enterprises have not only been satisfied with the competition in the domestic market, but also hoped that their products could occupy a place in the international market. Especially after China's entry into WTO, foreign tariff barriers have been gradually broken, which makes China's product export have more business opportunities. Whether in Chinese mainland, Hongkong or Taiwan Province Province, the export trade is increasing, and the prosperity of export trade has brought a lot of certification needs and business opportunities. But at the same time, there are "technical barriers" represented by technical regulations, standards, conformity assessment and certification. This has become the most hidden and difficult obstacle to the export of China products. Take the toy industry as an example, China's annual toy export volume reaches more than 22 billion pieces, accounting for 70% of the European and American markets. Yiwu is a national small commodity distribution center, and Yiwu toys occupy a considerable share in China's export toy products. According to the statistics of Yiwu Toy Industry Association, the annual sales of toys in Yiwu market exceeds 4 billion yuan, accounting for about 70% of exports, of which more than 25% are exported to European and American countries. Among more than 3,000 toy business entities in Yiwu market, there are more than 300 local manufacturers, with an annual output value exceeding 1 100 million. As a result, the huge testing and certification market space has attracted international authoritative certification bodies. France BVQI has entered Yiwu to provide pre-shipment inspection services for local foreign trade export enterprises and units in Yiwu, and four enterprises have passed product inspection and on-site assessment. It is reported that British INTERTEK and Swiss SGS will also prepare to enter the Yiwu certification market, provide convenient testing and certification services for local enterprises, help enterprises establish and improve their internal quality control systems, provide quality licensing, system certification, product certification consulting and product safety standard training, and actively conduct sampling testing and on-site evaluation for enterprises.
In the rapidly changing international market, enterprises must adapt to the constant changes of global trade, procurement and sales methods, respond to the impact of emerging markets, expand product lines and product categories, shorten time to market, reduce costs and supply chain risks, and meet the quality and safety requirements of the whole enterprise operation process. When enterprises face these pressures and challenges, third-party certification bodies become indispensable strong support and reliable partners to help enterprises solve these problems.
Development Trend of Third-Party Certification Organizations in China
With the increasing demand for enterprise certification in Chinese mainland, it will affect the strategic deployment of third-party certification institutions in China, and there will be a situation that coastal economically developed areas will gradually radiate to the whole country in the future. Therefore, the huge development potential also makes international certification bodies accelerate the process of expanding the China market. How to improve brand image, adjust business direction and integrate business will be the problems that these international certification companies need to solve. The long history, good reputation and global customer resources of international certification bodies help them improve their market position. Strengthening the company's core competitiveness will be the key to win the competition in China certification industry. If certification companies can provide a wider range of certification and provide a variety of testing, then customers do not need to pass the certification of several certification companies for a product, and the implementation of one-stop service throughout the process will be the development direction of third-party testing institutions in China. In addition, international third-party testing and certification institutions need to further strengthen cooperation with local certification institutions in China, establish joint ventures and cooperative operations, and cooperate with China government agencies to study a new standard system with the help of the talent advantages and international experience of international certification institutions. These standard systems should conform to both international standards and the specific conditions of China. With the development of China's social economy, many new standard systems have emerged. Any certification is not lifelong and needs to be re-evaluated and certified regularly. Therefore, with such a vast market potential, Chinese and foreign institutions try to give full play to their respective advantages and form a joint effort to tap the market. The joint venture company will provide services for China enterprises to enter the international market and establish contacts for international sellers to enter the China market.
International authoritative third-party certification bodies have a good development prospect in China. The establishment of strong brand strategy and localization strategy will make these international authoritative certification bodies more competitive in China, and pass on international advanced management ideas, concepts and methods to more China enterprises through strict testing and certification services, thus contributing to China enterprises' export expansion and competitiveness improvement.