CCC: Mandatory Certification for Cable Types
1. April 2014The catalogue of mandatory CCC certification (CCC stands for “China Compulsory Certification”) for products intended for the Chinese market is extensive.
Products requiring CCC must have the certification in place before the product is imported, sold, traded or used in China. The official basis for CCC Certification are the GB Standards (GB stands for Guobiao, Chinese for National Standard), implemented by the AQSIQ (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine).
Certain cable types are required to have CCC certification. For them, the following GB Standards apply:
- GB/T12972-2008 for “Flexible rubber-sheathed cables for mining proposes”
- GB/T12528-2008 for “Rail vehicle cables (wires) with rated voltages up to and including 3 kV”
- GB/T5013.1~8-2008 for “Rubber insulated cables of rated voltages up to and including 450/750V” (supplemented by mechanical industry standard JB8735.1~3-1998)
- GB/T5023.1~7-2008 for “Polyvinyl chloride insulated cables of rated voltages up to and including 450/750V” (supplemented by mechanical industry standard JB8734.1~5-1998)
There is no official English translation of the GB Standards available, however they generally mirror the IEC Standards (International Electrotechnical Commission). Please see below for the corresponding IEC Standards:
For Chinese GB/T 5013-2008 refer to IEC 60245
For Chinese GB/T 5023-2008 refer to IEC 60227
For Chinese GB/T 12972-2008 and Chinese GB/T 12528-2008 there is no corresponding IEC Standard.
For each GB Standard there is a matching Implementation Rule, which prescribes the necessary procedures required to get CCC certification. The Implementation Rule will define the scope of product testing needed, the guidelines for the factory inspection, the general overall process and final marking instructions. For the above mentioned GB Standards, the corresponding Implementation Rule would be CNCA-01C-002: 2007.
It is always important to check the CCC requirement carefully, and to make sure that the GB Standards and Implementation Rules are current.
If no CCC certification is needed, we recommend applying for a CCC Clearance Certificate (also known as a Letter of Investigation). A CCC clearance certificate may reduce the risk of cables being held and/or delayed at customs. It is common for cables to be wrongly re-classified as a cable that would need CCC, because if is not always visually distinctively different from a cable that would require CCC.
We will check to see if your cable needs CCC, and can provide the assistance to get CCC (if needed) or even a Clearance Certificate, if it is found that your cable does not need certification.
Information regarding CCC certification, the certification process and the costs can be found on our website. You will also find details regarding our certification package can be found on our website including a general anticipated time frame. Take a look at our references section for a list of some of our clients and what they are saying about us. For more detailed information please download our free booklet “CCC Made Easy” here. You may also consider our book “A Brief Guide to CCC: China Compulsory Certification”, which can be ordered directly on Amazon here.
The Chinese certifying authorities regularly publish GB standard updates and other certification requirements. These official announcements are often made without any advanced notice and are published only in Chinese language, so please check our “News” section on our website regularly for up to the date and breaking news.
Please do not hesitate to call or email with any questions you may have.
