On April 22, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) of China issued notice to call for comment on the draft of Administration Measures for the Implementation of National Voluntary Certification Schemes (hereinafter referred to as “the Draft”), and the public consultation will end on May 22, 2026. The purpose is to ensure that national voluntary certification (NVC) schemes are normative, scientific and credible, and are managed through a unified full lifecycle manner.  

According to the official data issued by SAMR, up to the date the Draft is publicized, China has 33 NVC schemes, but based on the research of the drafting group and the feedback from different stakeholders, current NVC schemes have following issues that needs to be addressed:

-   Lack of standardized access requirements for certification bodies; 

-   Unclear responsibility distribution between involving national regulators; 

-   Insufficient enforcement of national policies.

In such case, SAMR (mainly the National Certification and Accreditation of China, commonly known as CNCA) formed a drafting working group to formulate the Draft using relevant national laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Regulations of China on Certification and Accreditation (2023 Revision), and the Measures for the Administration of Certification Institutions (2020 Revision) etc., as the legal basis. And before issuing this Draft for public consultation, internal comment seeking has been carried out in 24 national ministries and departments.

The Draft clearly assigns SAMR (mainly CNCA) as the prominent regulator for the management of the NVC schemes, and the organizer with other national ministries and departments when coordination and comprehensive supervision is needed. It applies to voluntary certification schemes of products, management systems, services, and other areas, which are either established by SAMR (CNCA) independently or jointly with relevant departments of the State Council with basic certification standards and rules, and are monitored by SAMR (CNCA) as well.

The document covers 21 articles and the main contents include:

-   Requirements for project initiation, proposal submission, and approval. 

-   Clarify the main entity of issuing authorities, and specify requirements for certification standards and rules, coding rules, technical committees, pilot implementation and verification etc. 

-   Implementation requirements, including criteria for certification bodies, personnel qualifications, and promotion and adoption requirements. 

-   Assessment of implementation outcomes, institutional adjustments, and clear specifications for certification body conduct and comprehensive supervision requirements.

For foreign stakeholders, a further unified management system for China’s NVC schemes would facilitate foreign manufacturers, and avoid confusion on the credibility of different schemes. The final publication of these administrative measures on NVC schemes may also result in the revision and changes in existing schemes, so stakeholders that have done such certifications are advised to keep up with relevant progress.