The certificate says valid until 2028, the register says cancelled. Which one is right?
Both can be. A certificate document records the state on the day it was issued. Changes after that are published by the certification body, and the PDF never changes. A PDF with "valid until 2028" and a register entry that says "cancelled" can be two readings taken at different times.
Why a document and a register can disagree
A Chinese certificate, a CCC certificate for example, is issued by a certification body approved by the regulator, CNCA. The body issues the document once, with a validity date. During those years it keeps following up the certified product and factory, and under the CCC rules it must publish every suspension, withdrawal and cancellation, and report it to the market regulator. Nothing changes the PDF that was handed out on the first day. A supplier can send a buyer a correct copy of a certificate that is no longer in force, without either of them knowing.
What the statuses mean
Suspended, withdrawn and cancelled are the words used for certificates in China generally. The grounds below are the ones the CCC rules give (SAMR Order No. 61, Articles 26 to 28).
| register status | Chinese | in short (CCC) |
|---|---|---|
| valid | 有效 | in force |
| suspended | 暂停 | temporarily not in force, for example after a failed follow-up inspection, or at the holder's own request; if the problem isn't put right during the suspension, the certificate is withdrawn |
| withdrawn | 撤销 | taken away by the certification body, for example because a follow-up inspection found the product differs from the tested sample, or the certificate was obtained by deception |
| cancelled | 注销 | ended, for example because its validity ran out and wasn't renewed, the product is no longer made, or the holder asked for it |
From the day a CCC certificate is cancelled or withdrawn, and while it is suspended, products that don't meet the certification requirements may not leave the factory, be sold or be imported in China (Article 29).
A cancelled certificate is not the same as a withdrawn one. A factory that stops making a product can have a certificate cancelled at its own request. The register records the state. It does not record the reason, so the status alone is a question for the supplier, not an answer about them.
What to ask
- What is the certificate number? Look it up in the register of the body that issued it, or on the CNCA platform for certificates issued in China. A photo or a PDF is not a lookup.
- If the register says anything other than valid: what happened, and which certificate covers the product now?
- Does the holder name on the register match the registered name of the company you are buying from?
What Clacta shows
Clacta reads certificates in the register, by number and holder, and prints the status the register gives. It prints the status without a conclusion: the report does not guess why a certificate was cancelled, and it does not grade the supplier for it. A cancelled or withdrawn certificate is shown while its own validity date has not yet passed. Once that date has gone, the certificate would have ended anyway, and the report leaves it out. One with no validity date in the register is left out too.
Sources
- Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA), under the State Administration for Market Regulation, for the national certificate register and its status field
- The CNCA-approved certification body named on each certificate, for the certificates it issued and their status
- Provisions on the Administration of Compulsory Product Certification (SAMR Order No. 61, 2022), Articles 26 to 29, issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation
- Measures for the Administration of Certification Certificates and Certification Marks (2022), Article 11, issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation
Cross-check, Clacta.