A supplier sends a certificate and says the fabric is compliant. The goods ship. A year later a retailer test flags a restricted substance, and the first call from the buyer’s compliance team is not to the factory in China.
It is to the brand whose name is on the label.
That is not an accident of enforcement. It is how product law is written. Regulatory obligation attaches to whoever places the product on the market, and for an imported product that is you — not the mill that wove the fabric or the factory that sewed the garment.
Most sourcing problems that turn into recalls are not quality failures. They are responsibility failures: both sides assumed the other owned something.
Why “Our Factory Is Certified” Is Not an Answer
Certification and responsibility are different things, and they do not travel together.
A certificate is a record produced against a specific scope, sample and date. It is evidence. It does not move a legal obligation from one company to another — nothing a supplier sends you can do that unilaterally.
Under United States rules for children’s products, the manufacturer or importer is the responsible party and must issue a Children’s Product Certificate based on testing at a CPSC-accepted third-party laboratory. The factory may run the tests. It is not the responsible party.
In the EU and UK, chemical obligations sit with the entity placing goods on the market. Again: the factory may provide the data. The duty is not transferred.
None of this means factories are uninvolved. It means the two roles are different, and a purchase order that does not name which is which is a liability waiting for a trigger.
The Split — Who Owns What
| Obligation | Factory owns | You own |
|---|---|---|
| Fibre composition accuracy | Sourcing and production consistency | The label claim and its accuracy |
| Restricted substances | Material selection, supplier control, test execution | Your RSL, the declaration, market compliance |
| Children’s product safety | Manufacturing to spec; testing as instructed | Responsible party status; the Children’s Product Certificate |
| Children’s sleepwear flammability | Construction, fabric spec, sample submission | Certification that the standard is met |
| Care label content | Supplying wash and care data | Accuracy and required format under the care labelling rule |
| Country of origin marking | Where it was actually made | Correct marking on the imported article |
| Drawstrings and mechanical safety | Construction to the agreed spec | Compliance with the applicable safety rules |
| Recall and corrective action | Production traceability, affected-lot data | The recall decision, regulator contact, consumer remedy |
Read the right-hand column. Every line of it is yours, even though the work behind several of them happens in someone else’s building.
What the Factory Can Legitimately Give You
A competent factory can and should provide:
- Test reports from an accredited laboratory, naming the method, sample and conditions
- Certificate numbers for its own certifications, with validity dates
- Material declarations from its mills and trim suppliers
- Construction and component specifications, in writing
- Production traceability — which lot, which dates, which materials
- Notification, in writing, when a material or supplier changes
Ask for something the factory cannot give you — such as a statement that transfers your market liability — and you will either get an empty promise or a supplier who now knows you misunderstand the rules.
The Three Documents That Make the Split Work
The split is only defendable if it is written down. Three documents do most of the work.
1. A compliance specification in the tech pack. Which market, which age group if any, which restricted substance list applies, which limits, which test methods. If the tech pack says nothing about compliance, nobody was working to a standard.
2. A testing plan. Which tests, on which components, at which point in the process, at whose cost, and what happens to the cost if a material changes. Name the components explicitly — trims, prints, elastics and threads are the usual blind spots.
3. A documented chain. Material to mill to finished goods to you, with certificates or declarations at each link. Regulators and retailers both ask for it, and reconstructing it after a problem is far more expensive than collecting it as you go.
Our compliance guidance covers how these three fit into a live order.
Where Buyers Get It Wrong
| Failure | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Treating a certificate as a transfer of liability | You discover the gap at the retailer, not at the factory |
| Accepting “we use safe materials” as a specification | No limits, no methods, no evidence — nothing to hold anyone to |
| Not naming the target market or age group at spec stage | The wrong test scope; re-testing and schedule loss |
| Not agreeing who pays for re-testing after a change | Dispute escalates while the shipment waits |
| Not retaining the chain documents | Every question after a problem becomes a re-investigation |
Each of these is a purchase-order problem, not a manufacturing problem.
A Compliance Split Checklist
| Question | Factory answers | You answer |
|---|---|---|
| Which market is this product going to? | — | ✔ |
| Which RSL and which limits apply? | — | ✔ |
| Which components need testing, and by which methods? | ✔ (feasibility) | ✔ (scope) |
| Who issues the certificate or declaration? | ✔ (data) | ✔ (declaration) |
| Who is the responsible party? | — | ✔ |
| Where are the reports and certificates held? | ✔ | ✔ |
| Who pays for re-testing after a material change? | ✔ (agreed in writing) | ✔ (agreed in writing) |
Fill this in before the order is confirmed, and the two of you are working from the same document instead of from assumptions.
One Honest Note
We are a manufacturer. We can give you test reports, certificate numbers, material declarations and production traceability, and we will tell you in writing when a material or a supplier changes.
We cannot be the responsible party for your market, and we will not sign a document implying that we are. If a supplier offers you that, read it carefully — what it usually means is that nobody is accountable at all.
FAQ
Q: If my factory holds the certificate, am I covered?
A: No. The certificate is evidence about a sample and a scope. Your obligation as the entity placing the product on the market is separate and is not discharged by holding someone else’s document.
Q: Can I put compliance responsibility on the factory by contract?
A: You can allocate cost and remedies by contract — who pays for re-testing, who replaces non-conforming goods. You cannot contract away a regulatory duty owed to a government. Contracts handle money; regulation handles accountability.
Q: What should I ask for at minimum?
A: A written compliance specification naming your market and RSL, a testing plan naming components and methods, and the chain documents for each material. Everything else is a variation on those three.
Q: Our factory says a lab test isn’t needed for our product. Is that possible?
A: It depends on the product and the market. Some products and materials fall outside a given requirement; others are caught by it once you know the intended age group. Decide this from the regulation or a qualified adviser, not from the supplier’s preference — the supplier is not the party the regulator contacts.
CTA
Send us your target market, product category and intended age group. We will return a written split of which tests and certificates sit on our side, which stay on yours, and where the evidence will be held — before you place the order.