By Andrew Reich

Poor quality product from China continues to be a major issue for both importers and factories. As a buyer, you can protect yourself and also educate your clients with some simple on-line research on product safety and performance standards. With the right documentation you can then clearly communicate these standards to your Chinese factory, and this way often prevent a major QC lapse.

The first step in this process is identifying standards for your product. Below are 5 strategies to achieve this:

1. Consumer Products Safety Commission Website (CPSC) – This site is the main source for USA product standards. Visit them and use the search feature to search your product type and related terms.
2. Consult with a 3rd party quality company/consultant – For a relatively low fee you can request that such a company provide you a full product testing and requirement standard page which will provide a lot of clarity.
3. Standards and Quality Association Websites – Organizations that are often government related, and whose published standards are often considered binding. Use the “search” feature on their pages to get good results – See this Resources section’s first 15 links for an introduction to these sites.  Use the “search” feature on their pages to get good results.
4. Ask your Chinese factory – This often the simplest and most effective way to get standards data on your product. Ask the factory if they have any previous lab testing reports that they can share with you. This can represent testing on their materials or finished products. These documents will often contain product standards as the basis for the testing. Click Here for an example of a material testing report that a factory may provide.
5. Industry Association Websites – Some examples of such sites:
   Center for Auto Safety (CAS)
   American Petroleum Industries (API)
   Cookware Manufacturer Association
   Craft and Hobby Association (CHA)

The next step in this process is communicating these standards to your factory in China.

1. Bi-lingual Product Testing Protocol – Ensure that you have a developed a clear and concise product testing protocol which documents out every test and product standard. Then have this documentation translated. Have the factory use the translated one for reference, and sign-off on the English one. Here is an example of a product testing protocol in English.
2. Write these standards into you PO, L/C Terms, or other trading documentation. The factory is much more likely to take a serious interest in providing you products to standard if it is tied into receiving their cash.

Andrew Reich is the founder and general manager of InTouch Services, Ltd., a China-based leader in quality control and related services for buyers and manufacturers internationally. He is also author of the well-known quality blog: QualityWars.