What is Global Market Access?
As manufacturers look to expand their footprint around the world they must first have their products certified in each country they wish to import and sell them in. In order to accomplish that many manufacturers team up with a company that has the knowledge base required to obtain those approvals.
Also known as "Global Market Access", this service is typically outsourced and
some or all of the homologation (type approval) processes are assigned to a
dedicated type approvals management company. This service typically starts
with performing research to identify global requirements for your product
based on country specific regulations.
This company you assign your global market access needs to, typically
organize and process everything from the required regulatory testing services,
providing local representative service, local certificate holder service and
direct contact with the global regulatory agencies in order to provide the
international type approval certificates.
The advantage to partnering with an experienced Global Market Access company is they already have the knowledge, contacts and experience to provide these certifications. A good analogy is corporate taxes. A manufacture could do their own taxes however they would need someone on their staff working full time to keep up on the changes in the tax laws. In most cases it is much more cost effective to hire someone who does corporate taxes for a living.
In that same way, a manufacturer could obtain all these approvals on their own. However the amount of time it would take to research and document each countries testing requirements, local representative/certificate holder services, application requirements as well as the right contact information would be a full time job.
It is much more cost effective to hire a company that does this for a living.
As the approval schemes are constantly changing and in many parts of the world their is a lack of harmonized standards it is even more important to work with a company that has the ability to stay on top of the changing requirements.
Why do your products need Mandatory Approvals?
Mandatory product approvals are required for your products to be imported into specific countries (clear their customs) market your products and meet country specific regulations.
Legally required homologations (regulatory type approvals) must be followed, and depending upon the country you want to market your products in the approvals and process can change from basic self-declaration or type approval to other, more complex approvals.
Getting a product approved means you must understand each country’s regulatory scheme and related requirements.
The manufacture must be able to meet all legal requirements which could include specific product labels, translations and/or statements in the user manual.
Many countries also require in-country local representatives and or in-country local certificate holder services (CSIA can provide both of those for you should you not have someone in place to satisfy those requirements.
You may need factory inspections such as ISO9001 or CIG023.
In some countries a pre-import inspection of each shipment is required.
While many countries accept the CE/FCC test reports as part of the approval process, many countries require testing in their country at an agency approved/accredited test lab. CSIA has the relationships with those labs to coordinate the required testing schemes.
What kind of services can I expect by partnering with CSIA for Global Market Access?
- Pre-report on each countries cost and requirements for your specific product. It is important that your marketing department know what the cost and requirements are in relation to the interest shown is each country so that they can make an informed decision on which country makes financial sense to invest in.
- Advice on which test lab to use not just for FCC/CE certification but the international test labs as well. Many countries have specific requirements for test reports. CSIA can advise on which labs have the correct accreditations to avoid issues down the road as you attempt to leverage your FCC/CE test reports as part of the approval process in countries worldwide.This will typically help the manufacture avoid duplicate and unnecessary testing on future approval applications.
- Support of laboratory testing. CSIA has several US test lab partners for FCC/CE testing. We also has relationships with all the international test labs in countries that have in country testing requirements.
- Collecting and compiling all required documents into a comprehensive technical compliance folder.
- Communication with in-country regulatory agencies to facilitate the type approval process with the proper regulatory agency.
- Comprehensive information on the required markings for each country.
What are the benefits of working with CSIA for Global Market Access?
- Free quotations and assistance with country specific inquiries
- CSIA will assign an Account Manager to manage the project through the lifecycle and serve as your single point of contact for the project
- Weekly status updates are provided every Friday
- Local Representative/Local Certificate Holder Services
- Translations
- Updates on regulatory requirement changes
- Other regulatory approvals such as Energy Efficiency, VDE, GMPCS-MOU registration
- CSIA records the final certificates and expiration in our database for your projects.
- That means we contact you each year for expiring certificates to make sure your products stay in compliance.
CSIA can help you access over 190 countries worldwide.
For more information on Global Market Access see "International Approval Services" in this website.
Note that international regulatory compliance regulations are constantly changing. It is important that you have a company with years of experience navigating the legal requirements for obtaining regulatory compliance for your telecom and electronic products prior to stating exporting them internationally. CSIA has close to two decades of international regulatory compliance experience.
Contact CSIA for more information on partnering for your Global Market Access needs.
61535 SW Hwy 97
Suite 5635
Bend, Oregon 97702
503 482 9289