How to verify a Chinese supplier’s certificates (a scan is not proof)
“We have CE, ISO and a test report.” Suppliers send certificates easily, and images are easy to fake or reuse. What matters is whether the certificate is real, belongs to this company, covers this product and is still valid.
Four questions for every certificate
- Who issued it, and what is the number? A certificate without an issuer and a number cannot be checked.
- Does the name match? The holder should be the supplier’s registered company name, not a different company.
- Does it cover your product? Check the scope, model and standard. A certificate for one product does not cover another.
- Is it valid today? Check the dates.
Where to confirm each type
Rules differ by product and by the market you sell in, so confirm what your market requires first.
| Type | How to confirm |
|---|---|
| ISO management-system certificates | Ask which certification body issued it, then check with that body’s own lookup. The accreditation side can be checked through IAF CertSearch. |
| Product marks such as CE | Often based on the manufacturer’s own declaration plus test reports, so there may be no single database. Ask for the declaration of conformity and the test report, with the name of the lab and the report number, then confirm with the lab. |
| Mandatory China certificates | Where a public lookup exists at the issuing authority, search the certificate number there. |
| Patents and trademarks | Search the national IP office’s public database and check that the owner is the supplier. |
How I label what I find
- Verified: the number was found in an official or issuer database, and it matches the supplier and product.
- Supplier-claimed: the supplier shows it, but I could not independently confirm it.
- Unknown: there is no public database to check. I say “cannot verify” and do not assume it is genuine.
An example from an anonymised report on a headwear supplier: a trademark registered in 2018 and valid to 2028, and an invention patent granted in 2022. The numbers had not yet been checked at the national IP office, so both lines were marked Supplier-claimed until they were.
Which certificates your product needs depends on the category
Overseas markets, Europe in particular, are strict about safety for some product types. Before asking for any certificate, work out which ones your category and destination country require. Typical examples:
| Product type | What buyers usually need to see |
|---|---|
| Children’s clothing and anything a child handles | Product safety testing for the destination market. |
| Tableware and items that touch food or go in the mouth | Food-contact safety testing. |
| Small appliances, consumer electronics, 3C digital products | CE marking for the EU, with the supporting test reports. |
Exact rules differ by country and product, so confirm them for your own market first. Note that terms such as “FDA” are often used loosely by suppliers. A facility registration is not the same as a product approval, so ask what exactly the document says.
Fake certificates happen
In our own sourcing work we have come across suppliers whose CE or FDA documents turned out to be fake, edited in an image editor. A polished scan proves nothing. What we do:
- Ask the supplier directly whether they can supply the certificate for your target market, and for the full document, not a screenshot.
- Look for the original online. Where a certificate is genuine, the issuer or lab page often lets you open or download the same PDF. If the supplier cannot point to it, treat the claim as unconfirmed.
- Compare the details on the PDF with what the supplier sent: number, holder name, product, dates.
Only a match at the issuer or lab earns Verified. A document that exists only in the supplier’s own chat stays Supplier-claimed, and if nothing can be checked it stays Unknown.
What to ask the supplier
- The certificate number, the issuer and the validity dates.
- For test reports, the lab’s name and the report number.
- Which exact product and model each certificate covers.
Limit of a desk check. A genuine certificate shows that a product or a system was assessed at some point. It does not guarantee that the next shipment matches it.