What is a Certificate of Conformity?

Unsafe and unreliable imported products can result in injury, death or damage to property. This is the reason why most countries around the world have stringent requirements in place to ensure their consumers are protected from sub-standard products and goods.

A Certificate of Conformity or CoC is a mandatory document which is necessary for Customs clearance of exports to many countries around the globe.

Certificates of Conformity have been defined in EU’s Single Internal Market and Type Approval Directive (EC-92). EU’s single internal market became official on 1 January 1993.

Part of the “EC-92” effort was to remove the technical barriers preventing the free movement of products within the EU market. The greatest impact of this effort has been in the area of standards in the automotive sector. The EU Commission is seeking to harmonise the automotive, technical and environmental standards between all the member states.

To receive a type approval, products may either be brought to a testing facility or manufacturers may opt to maintain their own testing equipment. Nevertheless, US and EU automobiles still must be certified to this single set of rules by an authorised member state agency. A similar system was adopted for the type approval of two and three wheeled vehicles, which became effective on 1 January 1994.