Play-mats now included in the scope of China Compulsory Certification (CCC)

Commonly found at homes, schools and nurseries, play-mats are mostly made of soft materials with attractive designs intended for use by infants and children. In order to protect children from adverse health effects and safety hazards associated with play-mats, the China Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) issued Notice No. 41 on December 8, 2017 to add play-mats intended for use by children to the scope of China Compulsory Certification (CCC). With effect from December 1, 2018, children’s play-mats without a proof of CCC compliance cannot be imported, sold or placed on the China market or used for any other commercial activities. Definition of Play-mats subjected to CCC 1) Products labelled as “Play-mat” (“爬爬墊” in Chinese) on the product itself, product packaging or user manual; or mat-type products labelled as GB 6675-compliant and suitable for infants and children to play on. 2) Products that are not labelled with information specified in point 1 above, but expressly marked as suitable for children aged 14 years and below, and having any one of the following characteristics: i) can be assembled to form different shapes for infants / children to play and crawl on; ii) without an assembly feature but with cartoon images or with pictures / illustrations serving an educational purpose, and intended for infants / children to play and crawl on. Manufacturers of play-mats must complete the relevant CCC certification process and obtain a CCC certificate before November 30, 2018. Technical Requirements Play-mats shall comply with GB 6675, the Chinese National Safety Standard for Toys, including general requirements, mechanical & physical properties, flammability and migration of toxic elements. Special attention should be paid to non-compliances identified by the China’s Quality Supervision Authorities during market surveillance which are summarized here below: „ ambiguous product information which may cause unnecessary troubles for consumers to decide, use and even safeguard their rights; „ poor physical and mechanical properties, e.g. small parts are easily detachable, that may cause choking hazards to children under 36 months; „ excessive toxic elements which may cause damages to human respiratory organs, skin and liver. STC (Hong Kong) and STC (Dongguan) have been accredited by CNCA as Designated CCC Testing Laboratories, able to perform CCC testing for full-scope toy products, including play-mats. We help speed up time to market by offering toy manufacturers a convenient, efficient one-stop CCC certification service, from CCC application, type testing to technical support.

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