For importers · February 16, 2026
Certificate or declaration: how to understand what your product needs
How the forms of conformity confirmation differ, and who chooses the right one.
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8 min
Applicants often think it is enough to choose "certificate" or "declaration". In practice, inside each form there are several schemes, and it is the scheme that decides how much time and money the issuing will take.
What any scheme consists of
Elements of a conformity assessment scheme
01ObjectSerial production, a batch or a single item
02EvidenceOwn materials or laboratory test reports
03ProductionWhether an analysis of the state of production is needed
04ControlInspection control during the validity period
The combination of these four elements gives the name of the scheme: 1D, 3D, 1S, 3S and so on.
Declaration schemes
| Scheme | Object | Tests | When it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Serial production | Own evidence | Products with a low risk, a manufacturer in the territory of the Union |
| 2D | Batch | Own evidence | One-time delivery |
| 3D | Serial production | Accredited laboratory | The most common scheme for import |
| 4D | Batch | Accredited laboratory | One-time delivery of products with increased requirements |
| 6D | Serial production | Laboratory + certified management system | When the manufacturer has a certified management system in place |
Certification schemes
| Scheme | Object | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| 1S | Serial production | Tests of samples and an analysis of the state of production, then inspection control |
| 3S | Batch | Tests of samples from the batch, no inspection control |
| 4S | Single item | Tests of the specific item |
| 9S | Serial production or a batch | Based on an analysis of the technical documentation, for complex equipment in small series |
How this affects the budget Batch schemes are cheaper and faster, but they are valid only for a specific delivery. Serial production schemes cost more at the start, but they cover sales for up to five years.
How to choose
- Decide what you produce: a series, a batch or a single item
- Open the technical regulation and look at the list of permitted schemes for your product
- Assess whether you have the evidence — test reports, technical documentation, results of your own tests
- Take inspection control into account: under some schemes it is mandatory and costs money every year
- Compare it with your sales horizon: a one-time import or permanent deliveries
Automatic selection helps to find out which form and scheme apply to your product: the system shows the regulations and the proposed scheme with a justification. What to do with the result — we explained in a separate article.
Batch scheme or serial scheme: what to choose
In practice it comes down to one question — do you import once or regularly. The answer decides both the cost and how often you will return to the issuing.
| Batch | Serial production | |
|---|---|---|
| What the document is tied to | A specific volume, invoice, delivery | The manufacturer's products in general |
| Period | Not set — lives with the batch | Up to five years |
| Who is the applicant | Including the importer and the seller | The manufacturer or an authorized person |
| Analysis of production | Not done | Under some certification schemes — yes |
| Inspection control | No | Yes, for certification |
| When it is more profitable | A one-time purchase, a trial batch | Regular deliveries of one range of products |
A guide: if you plan more than two or three deliveries a year, a serial document pays for itself. If the range changes all the time, a batch scheme is more flexible.
A batch document is not transferable The most frequent complaint of marketplaces: the seller attaches to a new delivery the document from the previous one. Formally it is valid, but in fact it describes another batch. Marketplaces compare the batch data, and this is found out immediately.
What an analysis of the state of production is
This is the element that sets scheme 1s apart from the others, and it scares applicants more than it should. Experts visit the production site and check whether the production can steadily release products that conform to the tested sample.
They usually look at the following:
- Whether process documentation exists and whether it is actually used
- Incoming control of raw materials and components
- Control at the production stages and acceptance control
- The state of measuring instruments and their verification
- Work with non-conforming products: what happens to rejects
- Traceability of batches
For import this means a visit to a foreign site — time and money. This is why importers more often choose schemes that do not include an analysis of production.
Scheme 6d and the management system
A scheme that looks attractive on paper: tests plus a certified management system instead of an analysis of production. The hidden problem is that certification of a management system is a separate project with its own terms and cost.
It is justified if you already have a management system that is maintained for other reasons — for example, customers require it. Setting it up specially for scheme 6d is almost always more expensive than going through an ordinary scheme.
How the scheme affects time and budget
| What the scheme adds | Effect on time |
|---|---|
| Tests in an accredited laboratory | The main part of the time, depends on the parameters |
| Sampling by a representative of the laboratory | Plus logistics and agreeing on the visit |
| Analysis of the state of production | Noticeably longer, for a foreign site — the longest |
| Certification of a management system | A separate project, months |
| Inspection control | Does not affect the issuing time, but appears later |
The general principle: the higher the risk of the product, the more elements the scheme has, and the longer and more expensive the issuing. An attempt to choose a "simpler" scheme for products that must be certified is not an optimization but a violation. How the form of conformity assessment itself is determined — in a separate article.
Check your product Describe the product in plain words — the system will show the expected HS code (TN VED), the applicable regulations and the set of documents. Start the check.
