Shipment cost calculation — certification
Almost every importer has dealt with “product certification” and knows how bureaucratically complex a process it is, with its own subtleties and nuances. And that is only for cases where certification is needed at all.
A little terminology
- DoC — declaration of conformity
- CoC — certificate of conformity
- CB — certification body
- Exemption letter — a letter confirming that certification is not required for the goods
What the certification cost depends on
In competent work, the certification cost is calculated before the shipment starts and depends on the following factors:
Number of manufacturers
A separate CoC/DoC is issued for each manufacturer of the goods. That is why importers most often try to minimize the number of manufacturers of similar goods, where possible.
Article numbers
For a specific order, importers usually add to the certificate only the article numbers that will actually be imported in that order.
A useful tip from MATE: we add to the certificate not only the articles in the order but all the other articles the manufacturer has. This avoids extra costs on later shipments if the client wants to import other products from the same manufacturer.
P.S. The tip does not apply when the manufacturer has added new products with new article numbers to its range: any article missing from the CoC/DoC needs separate documents.
Choice of certification body
Certification bodies are either narrowly specialized or multi-profile. Multi-profile bodies offer importers different tariffs.
Need to import samples for laboratory testing
For a certain list of goods, issuing certificates requires officially importing samples: preparing import documents, delivering the samples to Russia and handing them to a laboratory. After testing, the certification body decides whether to issue the certificates.
For other goods no sample import is needed, so there is no cost for this step either.
Valid for 5 years
In our practice, CoC/DoC are issued for 5 years. That means a client can pay for certification once and then import those goods for 5 years without paying for certificates on each new shipment.
It is worth noting that mistakes in compliant import cost far more than in cargo delivery. Instead of the usual delays and partial defects in arriving goods, you get administrative violations, inquiries through the authorities, confiscation of goods and, at best, court disputes.
Entrust compliant import to partners who do not look for clever cost-cutting tricks and workarounds, but simply do their job well, without problems for you and your business!
For consultations and proposals on compliant import orders, our managers are here — Ada and Rail