US Import Compliance Basics: A Navigator, Not a Legal Opinion

Compliance is the part of importing where a supplier’s reassurance has no legal value. In the United States, obligations attach to the importer of record and to the party that introduces goods into commerce — which is you, not the factory in Guangdong. This guide is a navigator: it tells you which agency governs what, which categories carry heightened requirements, and where the official text lives. It deliberately does not tell you whether your specific product complies, because that determination requires your specific product, its materials, its intended users and often laboratory testing.

The customs layer applies to everything

Every import passes through US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which enforces both its own rules and, at the border, the requirements of other agencies. The baseline obligations:

• Classification of the goods under the HTSUS, at hts.usitc.gov — see Landed cost math.
• Valuation — declaring the correct transaction value, with required additions.
• Country-of-origin marking — most imported articles must be marked with their country of origin in a manner legible to the ultimate purchaser, with rules about placement, permanence and exceptions.
• Entry filing and recordkeeping — through a licensed customs broker in most cases, with document retention obligations.
• Advance filings for ocean cargo (the importer security filing) before vessel loading.
• Reasonable care — a statutory standard requiring the importer to take reasonable care in fulfilling its obligations. “The supplier said it was fine” is not reasonable care.

Everything else in this guide sits on top of that layer. Start at cbp.gov.

Consumer products: CPSC

The Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates most consumer products that are not food, drugs, cosmetics, vehicles or firearms. Its authority covers mandatory safety standards, bans, recalls and reporting obligations. Everything below starts at cpsc.gov.

Children’s products carry the heaviest requirements, largely from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Broadly, a children’s product — one designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under — is subject to:

• Limits on lead content and lead in paint or surface coatings, and phthalate limits for certain products;
• Third-party testing by a CPSC-accepted laboratory and issuance of a Children’s Product Certificate;
• Tracking labels with information identifying the manufacturer, location and date of production, and batch information;
• Applicable mandatory product safety standards — toys, cribs, strollers, sleepwear flammability, small parts, and many others.

Non-children’s consumer products may still be subject to a General Certificate of Conformity where a CPSC rule applies to them, plus product-specific rules — flammability of clothing textiles and mattresses, certain furniture stability rules, button-cell battery requirements, and others.

Two structural points to internalise:

• The certificate must be based on testing of your product, not on a certificate for a similar product from the same factory.
• The importer is the certifier for imported goods. That is your name on the document.

Food, drugs, cosmetics, devices: FDA

The Food and Drug Administration regulates food and beverages, dietary supplements, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, tobacco products, and articles that contact food — which sweeps in a lot of ordinary housewares. Start at fda.gov.

Depending on the category, requirements can include facility registration, prior notice of imported food shipments, product listing, labelling in prescribed formats, and in some categories premarket authorisation. Electronic products that emit radiation — including some lamps and lasers — have their own reporting requirements.

If your product touches food, goes on skin, makes a health claim, or is intended to diagnose or treat anything, assume FDA is involved and check before you order rather than after the container is at the port.

Radios and electronics: FCC

Products that intentionally or unintentionally emit radio frequency energy fall under Federal Communications Commission equipment authorisation rules — anything with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or a wireless module, and also many devices with digital circuitry. Requirements include the appropriate authorisation procedure, labelling, and user information. Start at fcc.gov.

Note that authorisation attaches to the specific device and configuration. A module’s authorisation does not automatically cover your finished product.

Advertising, labelling and claims: FTC

The Federal Trade Commission governs how you describe what you sell: substantiation for product claims, endorsement and review disclosures, and specific labelling rules including textile and wool fibre content, care labelling, and the standard for claiming a product is “Made in USA”. Start at ftc.gov.

For imported goods this intersects with customs marking: origin marking is a customs requirement, while origin claims in advertising are an FTC matter.

California Proposition 65

Proposition 65 is a California state law requiring a warning before knowingly exposing people in California to listed chemicals above specified levels. It matters to importers everywhere because California is a large market and enforcement is substantially private, through statutory notices brought by private parties.

Practical implications: the list of chemicals is published and updated; warning content and placement have prescribed forms; and the analysis depends on your product’s actual composition and the exposure it creates. The official source is p65warnings.ca.gov, with the chemical list maintained by California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

Two common errors: assuming a warning label is a substitute for knowing what is in your product, and assuming that a supplier declaration constitutes evidence of composition. Testing of the actual production material is what supports either conclusion.

Other touchpoints worth knowing

• EPA — pesticides and devices making pesticidal claims (including some “antimicrobial” consumer goods), and certain chemical and formaldehyde rules for composite wood products. epa.gov
• USDA / APHIS — plant and animal products, and wood packaging material treatment requirements for pallets and crates.
• Fish and Wildlife — products containing animal materials, including certain leathers, shells, feathers and woods.
• DOT / NHTSA — vehicle-related equipment and child restraints.
• Battery and dangerous-goods rules for transport of lithium batteries, which affect both shipping and packaging.
• State-level requirements beyond California — several states have their own chemical restrictions and labelling laws for specific categories.

Building this into your buying process

Compliance is cheapest when it is a step in sourcing rather than a fire at the port.

1. Classify the product early and check whether the classification is flagged for another agency.
2. Identify the applicable requirements before the first purchase order, and write them into the specification — required standards, test methods, labelling and marking, and who pays for testing.
3. Test with a CPSC-accepted or otherwise appropriate laboratory, on production material, and verify the report at the laboratory’s own site rather than trusting a PDF — see How to vet a Chinese factory.
4. Put labelling and marking into the QC protocol, so the inspection verifies them physically before shipment — see Pre-shipment QC.
5. Keep the records. Certificates, test reports, entry documents and supplier declarations have retention requirements and are what you will be asked for.
6. Re-check when anything changes — new material, new colourway, new component supplier, new factory. A certificate covers what was tested.

Where to look, in one list

This guide is a navigational overview of US import compliance for general information only. It is not legal advice and it is not a determination that any product complies with any requirement. Requirements change, and their application depends on your specific product, materials and intended users. Consult a licensed customs broker, a qualified laboratory and, where the stakes warrant, a regulatory attorney.