The product label is an important feature of the goods you want to import, in some cases, customs officers may even refuse entry to goods that are not labeled (or labeled in a way that does not comply with regulations).
When importing from China, obtaining compliant labels is not always easy as Chinese suppliers who know how to design a label and what information to include in it are rare.
Here are the regulations on the labels of imported products in force in Europe.
Designing your product label
Chinese suppliers are accustomed to making the products according to the instructions sent by the importer.
In the event that the latter forgets one or more specifications, the supplier will do its own thing, often with disastrous results as the criterion used by most Chinese suppliers is to maximize their profit margin.
Here’s a list of the information you’ll need to send to the provider:
Label layout and text;
Text font on the label;
Label Pantone Colors;
Images on the label;
Label size;
Label position;
Label
materials It is recommended to use a vector file format such as .eps or .ai, as Chinese suppliers are used to working with these types of formats.
Don’t trust your supplier for label compliance on imported products: Chinese suppliers, and Asian suppliers in general, are not experts in European or American regulations at all.
Suppliers expect you to provide the label template that they will apply to your product during production.
The responsibility for ensuring label compliance always rests with the importer without exception.
How do I communicate my labeling requirements to my supplier?
First, you’ll need to determine what the labeling requirements are for your product and create label templates that meet them.
In addition, you will need to tell your supplier the following:
Label
sizes Label materials and print types Label
colors (and any other characteristics) What type of file will I need to use for the labels?
As mentioned above, vendors work with .eps and .ai (Adobe Illustrator) formats.
Even better would be to provide drawings that clearly illustrate where the labels will be applied.
Label regulations in Italy and other European countries
Although it is often stated on the websites of the European Union or local Chambers of Commerce that the responsibility for labeling products falls on the manufacturing company, this statement is only valid for manufacturing companies operating within the European Union.
If you import goods from a non-European country, the responsibility for complying with the directives lies entirely with the importer.
Here are some of the most common product categories for which there are specific European regulations regarding labels:
Textiles;
Footwear;
Cosmetics;
Electrical and electronic equipment;
Household appliances;
Toys
Goods imported into the European Union are also subject to one or more regulations such as RoHS, REACH, and others. These guidelines also include instructions on how to label the product.
Here are the most common examples:
CE marking
If your product is regulated by one or more CE directives, then the CE marking will need to be printed on the goods or packaging. This marking must comply with the following guidelines:
– The marking must contain the letters “CE” in the standard form (see image above)
– The marking must occupy at least five millimeters (unless a specific directive allows exceptions)
– The marking must also be present on the product
manual- If it is not possible to print the marking directly on the product, then it must be printed on the packaging
Obviously, the label should not be limited to the CE marking: there should also be additional information regarding the characteristics of the product, how to contact the importer, the country of origin of the product and more.
Note that, if your product needs the participation of a Notified Body, then in addition to the CE marking there must also be the number of the Notified Body (four digits usually).
WEEE label
The WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive applies to a wide range of electrical and electronic products. In this case, the label must also contain the WEEE symbol.
Label Dangerous Substances
Substances classified as “hazardous” and mixtures containing such substances are subject to the Classification, Labeling and Packaging (CLP) regulation. At the moment, this regulation only applies to cosmetics and chemicals.
Considering the number of substances regulated by the REACH directive, i.e. the directive that regulates the use of chemicals within the European Union, including them all on the label would be impractical.
However, if a product is composed of a substance regulated by REACH for a percentage greater than 0.1%, then the importer has the duty to inform the customer. How so? The mode varies depending on the products!
What happens if I import products with non-compliant labels?
If you import products without a label or with labels that do not comply with safety directives, customs officers may refuse entry to your goods. Also, even if you don’t have any problems at customs, you risk having your goods withdrawn from the market at a later date.
While you can label your goods after shipping them to Italy in many cases, this strategy is often time-consuming and costly (think of cases where you need to send the goods back to China for the labeling process) and is sometimes impractical.
The solution is to know the requirements in advance and send all the necessary information to your supplier so that the label complies with the directives right away.
Need help importing products from China?
Our agency is specialized in supporting customers in all phases of projects, in order to import any product category without problems.
Rely on ImportazioneFacile.it’s experts who will take care of checking all the documents and verifying that the products you want to import comply with CE certifications.
Send us a free consultation request, where you can explain your project and we can evaluate together the best way to make it happen!
