Buying furniture from China for a shop in Ireland

What changed in July 2026

For almost thirty years, domestic furniture sold in Ireland fell under the Industrial Research and Standards (Fire Safety) (Domestic Furniture) Order 1995, S.I. No. 316 of 1995. It required upholstered furniture to pass the cigarette test, set match and ignition tests for covers and interliners, and required a permanent label headed CARELESSNESS CAUSES FIRE and, for retail sale, a display label.

That Order was revoked by S.I. No. 357 of 2026, signed on 22 July 2026 and notified in Iris Oifigiúil on 24 July 2026. Advice written before then, including many supplier checklists, still tells Irish buyers to order the Irish labels. Check what your factory is printing before the next run.

What your shop now owes as the importer

Furniture for homes is a consumer product, so it falls under Regulation (EU) 2023/988, the General Product Safety Regulation, which applies directly in Ireland. When your company brings the goods in from China, it is the importer, and Article 11 sets out what that means.

Before placing the furniture on the market you must make sure it meets the general safety requirement in Article 5, and that the manufacturer has done three things under Article 9: drawn up technical documentation with a risk analysis, put a type, batch or serial number on the product, and shown its own name and postal and electronic address. You must add your own name, registered trade name or trade mark, and postal and electronic address on the product, or where that is not possible on the packaging or an accompanying document. You must also make sure the furniture comes with clear instructions and safety information in a language consumers can easily understand.

Article 11 also requires you to keep a copy of the technical documentation for 10 years after the product is placed on the market, to act at once if you learn a product is dangerous, and to investigate safety complaints. In Ireland the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) handles consumer product safety.

Fire safety still has to be shown

The revocation removed an Irish test and label regime, not the risk. A sofa or upholstered chair still has to be safe, and how its cover, filling and interliner behave with a cigarette or a small flame is part of that. European standards such as EN 1021-1 and EN 1021-2, the cigarette and match-flame tests for upholstered seating, can be used to support the risk analysis. Ask the factory for test reports on the actual cover fabric and foam in your order, not on a sample range from another year.

Do not assume that labels made for Great Britain do the job. The UK's Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 are UK law and say nothing about your duties in the Republic. What matters for your shop is the traceability and address information above, in addition to evidence that the furniture is safe.

What to check at the factory

Put the Irish requirements in the order, not in an email after production: batch or serial number on each piece, the manufacturer's and your company's names and addresses on the product or carton, assembly and care instructions in English, and fire test reports matched to the cover and filling codes on the bill of materials.

Then check them at pre-shipment inspection, along with the usual furniture points in sourcing furniture from China: moisture in timber, finish, joint strength, carton drop and loading. A missing label is cheap to fix in the factory and expensive to fix in a warehouse in Dublin.

Ship direct to the Irish port and clear with Revenue as set out in importing from China to Ireland. For garden and outdoor ranges by the container, see outdoor furniture by the container. Our service for businesses in Ireland quotes to your Irish port.