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Before putting much faith in a Chinese factory's test results it makes sense to ensure that the laboratory which conducted the tests has a China laboratory accreditation certificate.
Although many factory's have their own laboratories, few of these are independently certified so requesting testing by external testing body is a wise move in many circumstances.
These testing bodies should be accredited and you can make sure of this by requesting a copy of their China laboratory accreditation certificate.
The China laboratory accreditation certificate is a certificate issued to test laboratories in Mainland China which have been deemed to conform to the requirements of international laboratory standard ISO/IEC 17025.
The certificate is issued in two versions, one in Chinese and the other in English. Either way, the certificate is easily recognizable thanks to the prominently displayed "ilac-MRA" and "CNAS" logos.
Here is the English certificate:
And here is the Chinese version:
China laboratory accreditation certificates are only issued by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) and should be similar in appearance to the certificates above.
If you have received the English version of the certificate, it is quite clear what information it contains, but in case you have the Chinese version here are the fields:
As Mainland China's only signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) under the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), CNAS is the only authority which can issue China laboratory accreditation certificates.
This accreditation is on the basis of ISO/IEC 17025 used by testing and calibration laboratories.
For Chinese laboratories, holding this certificate demonstrates that they have the technical capability to perform testing & calibration in accordance with international standards.
Thanks to the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, a test report from an accredited Chinese laboratory is, in theory at least, as valid as one from any other country.
Nowadays, more than 7000 Chinese testing & calibration laboratories are accredited by CNAS.
Note that laboratories aren't accredited to test to any standard, each laboratory is issued with a scope of the standards they are authorized to perform testing to.
China Checkup offers the most convenient and efficient way to verify. Take a look at our Certificate Verification service to verify a China Laboratory Accreditation Certificate today.
Laboratories in Hong Kong and Taiwan don't fall under the umbrella of CNAS - these jurisdictions have their own accreditation authorities:
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Read this guide if you want to understand the difference between China city types, including municipalities, prefecture-level cities, county-level cities and more.
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The great news is that there is actually a lot of great podcasts out there on this topic - and in this article I have chosen my current top ten.
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Matt Slater
Author
Hi there, I'm Matt, the Founder & CEO of China Checkup. Originally from the UK, I am now based in Brisbane, Australia.
Frustrated by the scarcity of concise, high-quality and timely information about Chinese companies, I setup China Checkup whilst living in Shanghai in 2013.
My team are proud that China Checkup's company verification reports have now helped thousands of clients from all corners of the world to do business in China more safely.