Exporters and importers will not be able to trade in products on the government's list that do not carry the "China Compulsory Certification" (CCC) mark.

China's product certification watchdog announced in December 2001 its plans to introduce the mandatory scheme and originally set a start date of May 1.

But because of the SARS outbreak, the deadline has been put off until August.

Qiu Yiliang, chief manager of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China, yesterday urged domestic and foreign enterprises which have not applied for certification to do so.

Statistics indicate that about 70 per cent of products that must undergo checks have been certified.

"But some enterprises are still waiting and seeing, because they don't want to pay the cost of certification," said Qiu.

For every product, businesses are charged 20,000 yuan (US$2,409) to cover the costs of certification.

The goods are checked against technical regulations and standards.

In 2001, the government released details of the first products that had to be certified.

The 132 products, including electric tools, household electrical appliances, and audio and video equipment, need to undergo assessment because they affect human, animal, plant or environmental health or national security.

"The measure also fulfils China's commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO)," said Qiu. "We will treat foreign companies and their products the same way we treat domestic ones."

China has put a lot of work into product certification since it joined the World Standardization Organization, Qiu said.

(China Daily June 3, 2003)