Liu Weijun, director of the Department for Certification under the China Certification and Accreditation Administration, said the mandatory safety certificate for products sold on the Chinese market had been proved to be effective since its implementation last August.

A total of 149,355 certificates had been issued by the end of August - 137,671 to domestically-made products and 11,684 to imported products.

He said more products will be added to the CCC list to ensure the safety of consumers.

Products in 19 groups divided into 132 product categories, including household electrical appliances, automobile and parts, motor vehicles and parts, information technology equipment, audio and video apparatus, lighting equipment and medical devices are required to have CCCs.

Solvent coatings for woodware, porcelain tiles, and concrete admixtures will be added to the catalogue from August 1 next year, and intrusion detector, burglar-alarm control units, vehicle security alarm system and burglar-resistant safes from October 1 next year, says Liu.

EU representatives said they welcomed the CCC but voiced many concerns about its implementation.

Enrico Malcovati, secretary-general of Italian Mechanical Engineering Associations, said the whole CCC procedure was too time-consuming. The factory inspections carried out in Europe are very burdensome, which is a major source of delay.

He proposed that factory inspections should be done by accredited European bodies and no factory inspections should be necessary in cases where companies are certified according to international standards.

Information about the CCC policy could be improved. This was especially important for small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have representatives in China, he said.

"Chinese authorities could establish in Europe a competent contact point that should be able to provide reliable information and help," he said.

While Liu said that the administration will perfect its website to improve transparency and obtaining of information.

To shorten the certification period, Liu said the administration is preparing to add more agencies and open up online certification.

(China Daily September 21, 2004)