Can Trading Standards approve my imported product?
Do not treat Trading Standards advice as blanket approval to buy stock. Ask for a written response tied to your exact product, evidence and sales territory. Advice does not replace testing, the applicable conformity assessment or your importer duties. Factory documents can be gathered by Cambridge China Bridge.
Ask for advice with a defined scope
Approach your local authority before committing to stock. Request product-specific advice rather than asking, “Can you approve this import?” For consumer product safety, official guidance identifies Trading Standards as the advice service in Great Britain and local authority Environmental Health in Northern Ireland. State where you intend to sell and ask whether the service can cover your product.
Do not assume an email reply is a product certificate or permission covering future batches. Ask what the adviser will review, what is excluded, whether samples are needed, whether advice is chargeable and how follow-up questions are handled. Agree the scope before sending samples or commissioning work.
Send questions the adviser can answer
Suggested enquiry: “We intend to import the attached product from China for sale in the stated territory. The pack identifies its intended use, users, specification revision and available evidence. Please advise which product requirements and assessment route apply, whether the proposed labels and instructions raise concerns, and what evidence remains missing. Please identify anything outside your service’s scope.” For standards selection, see our guide to finding the correct UK product standards.
Add your business name, address, contact person, proposed branding and sales channels. Describe the uncertainty precisely, such as whether the intended use changes the product category or whether a supplier’s report covers your configuration. Ask for a written reply identifying the documents reviewed, assumptions, unresolved questions and any referral needed. If further specialist work is suggested, use our consultant appointment guide.
Prepare an enquiry pack, not a document dump
Give the pack an index and a specification revision. Include photographs, intended use, materials and components, draft labels and instructions, and available risk assessments, complete test reports and conformity documents. Mark missing or unverified material clearly. Our technical compliance file checklist covers the fuller file; the enquiry pack should make your particular questions easy to find. For cosmetic label drafts, see our cosmetic container and carton labels guide. For textile label drafts, see our imported textile care-label guide.
Attach a question register linking each uncertainty to the relevant document or photograph. Explain any differences between the tested sample and the proposed stock. Ask the adviser how to send confidential files and whether a physical sample would help. Keep the submitted pack unchanged so you can later establish exactly what the reply addressed.
Separate advice, testing and certification
Ask each provider to name its deliverable and limitations. The following distinctions help you avoid treating different documents as interchangeable. Our UKCA, CE and ISO guide explains conformity markings and certification in more detail.
Primary Authority is a formal legal partnership with a local authority, and enforcing authorities should respect its advice when regulating your business. Ask whether your response is ordinary business advice or formal Primary Authority Advice, and request its precise scope. Do not describe either as blanket product approval. See our Primary Authority guide if you need an ongoing arrangement.
| Deliverable | What to establish | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory advice | Product revision, questions answered, evidence reviewed and exclusions | Use it to resolve the stated compliance questions and identify remaining work. |
| Laboratory test report | Sample identity, test methods, results and limitations | Use it as evidence about the tested sample within the report’s scope. |
| Conformity assessment or certification | Applicable route, issuing body where relevant, product identity and scope | Check that the assessment route matches the product; do not assume every product needs a third-party certificate. |
| Factory inspection | Specification, inspected goods, checks performed and findings | Use it to check production against the agreed specification; do not treat it as regulatory advice. |
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Turn the reply into a buying decision
Read the reply against your original questions. Record which findings are closed, what evidence is still needed, who will obtain it and who will review it. If the response is general guidance or signposting, ask a focused follow-up rather than recording “approved”. Keep unresolved safety or compliance questions as purchasing hold points, and revisit the advice if the specification or sales territory changes.
You remain responsible for product safety after the product reaches the market. Keep an internal owner for the release decision, records, supplier changes and customer safety concerns. Cambridge China Bridge’s staff in China can gather factory documents and check proposed changes against your brief; agree who will interpret the evidence and close each finding before production or dispatch. For machinery, see our guide to imported machine manufacturer responsibilities. For machinery incidents, see our guide to imported machine workplace accidents. For formal notices, see our guide to responding to Trading Standards notices.
Frequently asked questions
Can Trading Standards approve my product before I order?
Request product-specific advice, but do not treat a reply as blanket approval. Ask what was reviewed and what remains unresolved; complete the applicable assessment and keep control of your buying decision.
What should I send Trading Standards about a China import?
Send an indexed product brief, photographs, intended use, sales territory, draft labels and available reports. Identify the specification revision, missing evidence and the precise questions you want answered.
Will Trading Standards test my sample for me?
Ask whether sample examination or testing is within the offered service. Agree the scope and any charges before sending it. Request a separate test plan and report if laboratory evidence is needed.
Is a Trading Standards email Primary Authority Advice?
Do not assume so. Ask the authority to confirm whether the response is ordinary advice or formal Primary Authority Advice under your partnership, and identify the product, questions and conditions it covers.