Help! My goods are stuck in China.
In the last two weeks we’ve worked with two factories and talked with a number of other people about the reality of the new export responsibility enforcement in China. (New since the lead-paint problems of last year.) Yet, recently (since about Chinese New Year) the enforcement seems to have been ratcheted up another notch.
Example 1, we’ve been looking to export some electric bikes to the US for a client. But, unlike just about any other time in the last 10 years, some factories can export them and others really cannot; not right now at least. Very simply put, without an export license factories are not registered to export from China—rarely has that ever been a limitation on actual exports, though. But since China is trying to make sure that everything that leaves the country is traceable back to the site of production, it’s now limiting exports to factories with licenses (or good connections, more on that later). The market for electric bikes in China is huge and the bikes from a number of domestic factories are both good quality and available in foreign markets.
The problem is that enforcement of the rules are at best sporadic but getting stricter. So factories that were indeed (with out a license, through a 3rd party) exporting before have recently taken orders from foreign clients but the products are stuck in the factory and can’t leave the country for the foreseeable future. One of the bike factories is exporting like crazy—orders have gone up because they have a license. Another is telling us their warehouse is full of orders that they can’t get out of the country.
Example 2, dust, powders, fine particulates are currently restricted for export. Some can’t be air freighted, some can with visas and some, well some are just the luck of the draw it seems. We do a lot of craft glitters and flocks for export and have been hit with a weird series of regulations this year (not last year). Glitter cannot be exported by air in bulk qtty’s. “Bulk qtty’s” could be as small as qtty’s of 5grms per unit. This law seems to be cut in stone. Glitter by sea, no problem. Flock, in similarly small qtty’s is OK for both air and sea. An associate of mine says that his coffee exports are being similarly affected by this but that sufficient testing and paperwork solves most of his problems.
Example 3, some types of products are restricted but only in specific qtty’s or packaging. Ribbon, for example can be exported without a visa if it’s in pieces smaller than 20mm and clearly marked with the word “SAMPLE” on the packaging. Different materials don’t matter. If it’s classified as ribbon, it’s either going to require a visa or must be chopped up and labeled. We learned this the hard way. We were told by UPS in China that larger samples were no problem in small qtty’s. So we shipped a carton of samples to the US and indeed had no problems. But one month later, a second carton was held up and cost us hundreds of dollars to get out of US customs.
The lesson is–don’t trust your Chinese freight forwarder on US requirements and vise versa.
So what to do? The easy answer is you should do the same things now that you we’re doing before—following the laws. If you were using factories that didn’t have export licenses before, now may be difficult for you. I feel your pain, but can’t sympathize much. Domestic factories are cheaper for a reason—and now with exports controlled more tightly foreign buyers are finding out what that reason is. We buy a lot of materials from domestic factories and ship to domestic locations for final assembly, manufacturing—making sure that all our final factories can export.
More helpful advice is to check out customs in both the export and import countries. Talk with freight forwarders on both sides too–My experience is that freight forwarders don’t talk to their own offices on the other side of the ocean as much as you’d like to think. You make the calls and you’ll be safer–and have confirmed answers. Also, confirm BEFORE you order that your factory can really export on their own. A quick and relatively painless (few hundred USD) company report from and company like Verify can confirm independently that you’re working with someone that can ship your products regardless of the enforcement status in Chinese Customs.
So how long will this enforcement of the rules continue?
At least until the end of this 0lympic year, for sure. Hopefully longer. While the cynic may say that once the 0lympic hoards are gone so will be the enforcers, but I hope that’s not true. It’s in every-one’s best interest to make sure that the goods leaving China quality tested products. And that if there are problems, solutions can indeed be found and implemented and individuals and factories can be held responsible.
Just got word that each of my individual drink powder mixes must be tested before by exporting by air. Test will take up to 5 days and must be completed for each shipment.
Thanks for the update–good to know.
What we’ve done: I’m not sure if this works for food products, but with other powders and even other items that we need to have tested if you can create a “multi-pack” that has all the different flavors/colors in one package it often can save you time and money. Of course you have to specify that each of the colors/flavors are listed on the test results or it does you no good.
Bonus Tip: Here’s a dirty little secret from the testing industry too–they don’t test things unless you either force them to, the qtty’s demand it, it’s a security issue or the end retailer’s standards specify it. You (think you) pay for a test (you can even say/type the word test in your request) but what you really get is an “evaluation.” The difference is one is a test and one is a check of your info vs acceptable testing standards. This means that if you get a paint composition list from your paint supplier (so that you can test for lead) the testing company won’t test it, they’ll just check the factory list against the published standards. An actual “test” costs more and takes longer.
I wouldn’t think that this was a big deal if the testing companies (I’ve contacted 3 about this since a problem with one) were up front about it. But with the language barriers I didn’t realize the difference between “test” and “evaluate” when Hong Kong reps were talking to me in English.
The big rub is that if trust your factory and your testing company but your paint supplier lied to you (gave you correct #’s but didn’t use those numbers in his actual paint) you’re going to be nailed to the wall if a retailer does any independent testing.
Make sure you’re getting an actual “test” and not just an “evaluation.”
So these testing companies might just evaluate the samples, even if I pay for the required testing? I’m not too worried about a language barrier because I have a native guangdong assistant. So I should be worried about ensuring that they understand that I need a chemical composition test? Is it just an issue of communicating my needs or do I need to worry about them telling me they will test and then just doing a checper evaluation to save time and money?
I was talking to people in HK In ENGLISH!!
Here’s the deal: I paid for a “test” and I got an “evaluation.” Until I forced the semantics issue, I wasn’t even told the difference. Unless you confirm the actual test or the end client requires an actual test, you get an evaluation. In my case(s) I repeatedly asked for test results and was told I’d have them in 5 days–but then I had to provide all the factory’s chemical lists and started to question why–I wanted to provide a sample and have them tell me what was in it but even for the test they wouldn’t give me the results without the factory ingredient list first.
I was told, by a higher up in one of the big firms: You need to confirm, in writing that you are getting a test, not just an evaluation. It will take longer and cost more.
Also, confirm with customs or your client that you really need to have an actual test–most people don’t know the difference and evaluations for some folks are enough.
Wow, sounds difficult. We are being told by our forwarding companies that the powder products must be tested before they will ship them. Thanks a ton for the advice!
[...] Help! My goods are stuck in China. at Silk Road International [...]