The table below is what the destination requires — not what we hold. Rules change, and the document list is different for every destination; confirm the current version with your customs broker or the issuing body before you book freight.
| Market | Mandatory certification / regulation | What it covers | Documents buyers usually ask for | The trap most buyers hit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | SASO conformity through the SABER platform: Product Certificate (PC) + Shipment Certificate (SC) | Wood-based panels and building materials under Saudi technical regulations and the Saudi Building Code | PC registered in SABER, SC issued per shipment, test report from an accredited lab (formaldehyde emission, density, moisture), Arabic labelling | A PC covers a product, not a shipment — a separate SC is needed for every load and must be issued before the goods arrive. A PC registered to a trader instead of the producing mill is rejected at the port. |
| Nigeria | SONCAP — Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme: Product Certificate (PC) + SONCAP Certificate (SC) | Regulated products, including panels and boards, before customs release | PC from an accredited conformity assessment body, SC per shipment, Form M, test report referenced in the PC | The sequence is fixed: Form M → PC → SC. Buyers who order first and ask about SONCAP after production usually lose a week or more at Apapa or Onne waiting for an SC that couldn't be requested earlier. |
| Russia / EAEU | EAC declaration or certificate under the applicable EAEU technical regulation (TR CU), plus GOST conformity for panel grades — e.g. GOST 3916.1 for general-purpose plywood, GOST 10632 for particle board, GOST 4598 for fibreboard | Panels for construction and furniture use in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan | EAC declaration/certificate, GOST conformity documents, Russian-language labelling, ISPM 15 marked packaging | The EAC applicant must be a legal entity registered inside the EAEU. A Chinese mill cannot hold EAC on its own — the importer or an authorised representative does. Plan who holds it before production, not at customs. |
| Egypt | GOEIC import control, plus foreign-factory registration where the HS code is on Egypt's registered-factory list | Panels imported through Egyptian ports | Certificate of origin legalised by the chamber of commerce and the Egyptian embassy, commercial invoice legalised, test report, Arabic labelling, fumigation/phytosanitary where applicable | Factory registration belongs to the producing mill and cannot be borrowed from a trading company. If the mill is not on the list, no amount of paperwork at the port fixes it — check the mill's status before the deposit. |
| European Union | CE marking under the Construction Products Regulation, with a Declaration of Performance (DoP) to EN 13986; formaldehyde class E1 to EN 717-1 | Wood-based panels for construction use. Furniture-grade panels fall under different rules | DoP issued by the manufacturer, CE marking, EN 717-1 test report, safety data / labelling per EU rules | A DoP is issued by the manufacturer and cannot be issued by a trader. If the DoP names a company that is not the producer, the document is worth nothing at the border or to your customer. |
| United States | CARB Phase II (ATCM 93120) and EPA TSCA Title VI (40 CFR Part 770) | MDF, HDF, particle board and plywood sold into the US | Mill's CARB/TPC certificate, panel labelling, batch test reports (ASTM D6007), records kept by the importer | Limits differ by product: 0.11 ppm for MDF/HDF/particle board; 0.05 ppm for thin MDF (≤ 8 mm) and plywood. A certificate quoting 0.11 ppm for plywood is a red flag. Confirm the current limits in the ATCM before you rely on a number. |
| Gulf (UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman) | GSO standards adopted nationally; the UAE also runs ECAS conformity for regulated products | Panels for construction and fit-out | GSO conformity statement, mill test report, Arabic labelling on request | Gulf buyers often accept a mill test report plus a conformity statement, which leads sellers to assume every Gulf destination is equally relaxed. Saudi is not — it requires SABER regardless of what worked in Dubai. |
Reviewed October 2026. We are not a certification body and we don't issue certificates. We tell you what has to exist, and we check whether it does.
What we require from a mill before it gets your order
These five conditions are not marketing language; they are the filter we run before a mill is allowed into a price comparison. A mill that fails any of them is not quoted, even when it is the cheapest in the comparison.
- The certificate, as issued. We require the mill to send the certificate itself — number, issuing body, validity dates and product scope — before we place a deposit. A photo of a certificate cover is not a certificate, and a statement that "we have CE" is not a document.
- Scope that matches your order. We require the product scope to cover the panel type, thickness range, glue type and grade you are buying. A CARB certificate for 18 mm MDF does not cover 2.5 mm HDF, and a CE DoP for particle board does not cover plywood.
- A batch test report inside your production window. We require a report dated within the production period of your order, from a lab the issuing body recognises, naming the test method and the units used by your market (ppm for CARB/TSCA, mg/m³ for EN — these two units are not interchangeable, and our guide to formaldehyde grades explains why). We reject reports older than twelve months and reports with no date or batch reference — those are sample reports, not your report.
- Marking on the goods, not only on the paper. We require the grade marking, mill name and production date on the panels or packaging to match the certificate, and we check it at inspection. We reject unmarked bundles: the label is what your customs broker and your own customer will look for.
- The holder's name must line up. We require the legal name on the certificate to match the mill's business licence, the invoice and the packing list. We reject certificates held by a trading company that is not the producer — you would be paying for paperwork that cannot be defended at destination.
How to verify a certificate before you pay
Five checks, in this order. It takes about twenty minutes and it prevents more bad orders than any price negotiation.
Step 1 — Read the scope, not the logo
Open the certificate and find the product scope: panel type, thickness range, glue or adhesive, grade and the standard version. Then compare it with what you are buying, line by line. If you are buying 12 mm E1 MDF and the certificate names 18 mm, you are looking at someone else's paperwork. If it names an older edition of the standard, the certificate is expired in substance even if the date looks valid.
Step 2 — Verify the number at the issuing body, never at the supplier
Take the certificate number and look it up in the register the issuing body controls — the third-party certifier's record for CARB/TSCA, the SABER portal for Saudi, the accredited conformity body's system for SONCAP. If the number cannot be found in a register you reached yourself, treat the certificate as unverified, whatever the PDF looks like. A certificate that only exists as a JPG forwarded on WhatsApp, with no number you can look up, is where the conversation ends — not with a discount, with a different mill.
Step 3 — Check who holds it
The holder must be the mill that produces the panels: the same legal name as on the mill's business licence, and ideally the same name that appears on your invoice and packing list. If a trading company holds the certificate, ask which mill the certificate belongs to and get that mill's version. A certificate held by a middleman cannot be defended at destination, and it will not help your customer if they audit you later.
Step 4 — Ask for the report that matches your batch
A certificate approves the mill's production system. A test report describes a specific batch. Ask for the report covering your production window and check four things: sampling date inside that window, the laboratory's accreditation mark, the test method (ASTM D6007 or EN 717-1 for formaldehyde), and results in the units your regulation uses. A report with no date, no batch reference and no method is a sample report — useful for a first impression, useless in a customs file.
Step 5 — Know the four fake patterns
- The number doesn't fit the issuer's format, or it belongs to a different product when you look it up.
- The standard version is out of date — a certificate to a superseded edition, with a validity period that suggests nobody renewed it.
- PDF only, no register entry anywhere. A well-designed certificate that no issuing body can confirm is a design file.
- The holder doesn't match the seller. The certificate names one company, the invoice another, and the bank account a third. That pattern is the oldest one in the trade.
Two smaller ones worth checking: the certificate covers a factory address that is an office rather than a production site, and the issuing body is not accredited for that product scope. Both show up in real disputes.
We run these five checks on every order, and we send you the copies. If you want to run them yourself as well, do — the registers are public, and a buyer who checks is a buyer we can work with.
What ships with your order
All certificates are held by the producing mills. Copies are provided with every order.
In practice, each shipment file contains: copies of the mill's certificates valid for the goods you bought; the batch test report where the mill issues one; the pre-shipment inspection report with photos; and the export documents for your destination. Originals stay with the mill, because that is who they were issued to — what travels with your container is the verified copy set, plus a note telling you which document answers which requirement in your market.
We don't issue certificates, and we don't "arrange" one after the goods are ready. Certification is decided when the mill and the specification are chosen; that is the only point where it is still cheap to fix.
Send Your Panel List
Tell us the destination country, the panel type and the specification. You'll get mill-checked options, the document list your customs broker will ask for, and a note on which of those documents the mill has to issue — usually within 24 hours, Monday to Saturday.
Send Your Panel List WhatsApp: +86 152 6584 7535