From December 4 to December 20, 2024, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) is seeking public comments on the draft Administrative Measures for Green Product Certification and Labeling. These measures are intended to replace the Administrative Measures for the Use of Green Product Labels issued in 2019 and aim to regulate green product certification activities and the use of green product labels.

According to the draft, green product certification includes comprehensive green product certification and partial green product certification. Comprehensive certification refers to the conformity assessment conducted by certification bodies to evaluate whether all green attributes of a product meet the green product evaluation standards. Partial certification evaluates whether specific green attributes of a product meet the green product evaluation standards.

The draft also outlines three label designs for green products under different conformity assessment methods. These designs, from left to right, correspond to comprehensive certification, partial certification, and green product self-declaration.

The draft stipulates the following requirements:

• For products with multiple applicable green labels, the label must be selected in the order of comprehensive certification, partial certification, and self-declaration.
• For products certified by multiple certification bodies, the labels of all relevant certification bodies must be displayed.

Regarding product coverage, the draft specifies that the green product certification catalog and implementation rules will be formulated and issued by SAMR. If the catalog involves the responsibilities of other State Council departments, it will be jointly issued with these departments. Each category of green product in the catalog will have a corresponding comprehensive certification, while products outside the catalog may be subject to partial certification.

Previously, China’s green product certification system encompassed the green product evaluation system established by SAMR (covering 17 product categories) and other certifications addressing green attributes, such as green packaging, green building materials, and the China RoHS directive, jointly developed and implemented by SAMR and other ministries. The draft indicates SAMR’s ambition to establish a broader green product certification framework that integrates more products and existing, green-related certification systems into a unified green product certification and labeling system. However, coordination with other ministries remains the biggest challenge in this process.

The original text (in Chinese) of the draft regulation can be accessed [here]. If you would like to submit feedback or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.