Contents:
1/Foreword
2/Make products compliant
3/What should I do to comply?
4/Compliance tips for each site

Product compliance means that customers can find a variety of safe, secure, and compliant products offered by sellers on various sites through Amazon. Simply put, product compliance is a requirement for product safety, destination country regulations, transportation safety, and trade compliance at different stages throughout the production, import, transportation, and trade process.

Product safety is a prerequisite for protecting consumers' rights and interests, and different policies and standards have been introduced for each product safety site. Once they fall into a product quality crisis, sales are suspended, and even recalls are inevitable. In order to help sellers reduce related losses, Amazon requires that products pass safety audits before they go online, that is, obtain corresponding certificates and reports.

So what are the requirements for each site in the US, Europe, and Japan?Xiaobian specially invited the Amazon Global Selling Product Quality and Account Security Project Manager to send you a lightning protection guide!

● US: Safety certification (applicable to electronic and electrical products)

When selling electronic and electrical consumer goods in the US, in addition to mandatory requirements such as FCC and energy labels, sellers also need to pay attention to product safety requirements. Although not mandatory, it is already considered a necessary option in the destination market. Safety requirements include safety in the use of electrical appliances, current overload protection, and restrictions on the use of combustible materials. Common safety certifications include UL, CSA, ETL, etc. Products sold on Amazon, such as laptop batteries, must comply with UL 2054 or CSA 62133, and mobile phone chargers (wall-mounted) must comply with UL/CSA 60950-1.

● Japan: PSE certification materials

PSE is a mandatory safety certification in Japan to prove that electronic and electrical products have passed safety standard tests under the Japan Electrical and Material Safety Act (DENAN Law) or international IEC standards.
According to this regulation, 498 products must pass safety certification to enter the Japanese market. Among them, 165 Class A products should obtain a diamond-shaped PSE mark, and 333 Class B products should obtain a round PSE mark.

● Europe: DoC self-declaration

Europe implements a different self-declaration method from the US and Japan, that is, DoC (Declaration of Conformity, Declaration of Conformity).
DoC is a manufacturer's self-declaration document. For most products that need to enter the EU Economic Area for sale, they must meet EU harmonized standards as required by the CE Directive. When you sign a declaration of compliance, it means that the products you sell meet all relevant CE directives. If you violate them, you may be subject to corresponding measures!
Europe implements a different self-declaration method from the US and Japan, that is, in response to the requirements of different types of products in the EU, we have listed some commonly used CE directives and harmonized standards for your reference (see table below)

Amazon's anti-sales policy is based on the laws and regulations of each destination country. In order to avoid violating the anti-sales policy, sellers need to clarify the following aspects:

In fact, as long as the following three aspects are clarified, the occurrence of illegal acts can be effectively reduced.
● Illegal products
● Illegal claims, that is, promotional information that exaggerates the functionality of the product or does not match the function.
● Indecent vocabulary products.

In order for everyone to better understand the sales ban regulations, we have also prepared a few minor questions

No.1 As an alternative to cigarettes, e-cigarettes can reduce health hazards. A seller fell in love with this market and started selling e-cigarettes directly on Amazon's US site. What's wrong with TA's approach?

The e-cigarettes this seller chose to sell are prohibited products in the US. In the US, the sale of e-cigarettes and related products, regardless of whether they contain nicotine or not, is currently prohibited. In September 2019, the Trump administration proposed banning flavored e-cigarettes, and major Wal-Marts in North America removed e-cigarettes one after another. Although Trump rescinded the relevant law after two months, the US states of Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and California have taken legislative action to crack down on e-cigarettes.

No.2 A seller sells vitamins on Amazon, and descriptions such as “vitamins can treat cancer” appear in the product description. Is TA's practice in compliance?

Non-compliant. Vitamins are prohibited and restricted products. During the sales process, product features and publicity must be agreed upon. Sellers exaggerating the health benefits of vitamins and claiming that they can treat cancer is clearly a false advertisement that violates consumers' due rights and interests.

In the process of transportation, warehousing services can effectively reduce the time required for product transit and simplify transaction procedures, while Amazon provides you with FBA warehousing services at various sites. However, during the storage process, if the quantity of dangerous goods exceeds the standard, it may cause damage that is difficult to predict. So how can we achieve safe transportation?FBA exemptions are key!

Sellers are required to strictly comply with the relevant information in the FBA Exemption Form and make declarations before selling products.

Dangerous goods that are highly hazardous cannot be declared, and restricted applications are imposed for dangerous goods that are less harmful.

Battery and Battery-Powered Products Exemption Sheet (Exemption Sheet):
▼ The battery information in the exemption form must be consistent with the product detail page
▼ A maximum of 19 ASINs can be accepted in one exemption form
▼ Do not fill in the “watt-hour Wh” unit for non-lithium battery products
Exemption Form (SDS) for products that do not contain hazardous chemicals:
▼ A maximum of 10 ASINs can be accepted in one exemption form
▼ Set products need to fill in the individual product name line by line
▼ If the product contains magnets, please fill in the magnet suction value
▼ Fill in the percentage content of each ingredient

After clarifying product safety, destination country regulations, and transportation safety, the safety of the entire trade process is also very important.

Legal trade, also known as trade compliance, is different from the quality of products and the regulation of commodity categories in different regions. It restricts the entire transaction process, that is, complies with the requirements of relevant countries during trade and makes trade conduct legal during the import and export of goods.

After reading the requirements for product compliance in the above four steps, are you starting to worry about the listed products?Don't panic!Next, we'll show you how to understand product compliance requirements from before and after the product is listed, and then just follow the guidelines to apply for compliance.

● Before listing

You can learn about product safety and prohibited sales restrictions through a vague search on the seller's platform before listing. [Specific steps]:
(1) Open the Seller Central interface;
(2) Go to the search page;
(3) Enter product keyword/product restrictions;
(4) Select a link;
(5) Check the appropriate product safety requirements page.
Once you have completed the above steps, you can list or adjust your products according to relevant regulations.

● After listing

When you notice a product violation warning in your email, you can rectify it as required.
If you have any objections to the disposal measures, you can file a complaint and adjust the product information by adding additional information and revising the promotional information on the page. The next thing we need to do is wait for an official response from Amazon!

To make it easier for you to sell products on various sites, we have compiled a list of European, American, and Japanese sales restrictions, category reviews, and category requirements for FBA prohibited products.

● US station

● European station

● Japan Station

● US station

Most consumer products in the US are managed by the CPSC (American Consumer Rights Protection Association), and on the CPSC website, you can learn about compliance requirements for various consumer products or categories through the self-service of the tool “Regulatory Robot” on the CPSC website. (By entering keyword entries in the search box in the tool)
[Specific steps] Take remote control toys as an example:
(1) Select product categories, toys, and baby activity products/children's toys
(2) Enter keywords, remote control, toys
(3) Understand product customization requirements, children's product certificate (CPC), etc.;
(4) Seek out the corresponding agency for testing according to requirements.

● European station

The DoC mentioned above is a kind of self-assertion, that is, proving its legitimacy through different instructions. So how do you write a perfect DoC file?Also, see the details below:
[Specific steps] Take electronic remote control children's toys as an example:
(1) Learn about CE requirements. Find categories related to electronic remote control toys in the Harmonized Standard section of the EU website.
(2) Write applicable instructions, namely LVD instructions for electronic products, instructions for children's toys, and remote control instructions for children's toys.
*When a product involves many different product instructions, all of them need to be indicated during the description process.
(3) Indicate EN Standard (European standard), which is standard for DoC documents and cannot be ignored.

● Japan Station

The Japanese compliance certification process is relatively simple; you only need to get PSE certification. Applicants are required to obtain experimental test records approved by different departments for the product and fill out the application.
[Specific steps] Take remote control toys as an example:
(1) Report to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (the declarant or importer cannot be a foreigner, but can be any person residing in Japan);
(2) Suppliers must ensure that the declared products comply with the provisions of the Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law and keep corresponding inspection records;
(3) Conduct compliance assessments for CabS, 116 Class A product requirements;
(4) The declarant fulfills all obligations;
(5) Add the PSE logo to the product.