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China’s Proposed Draft Standard to Establish Safety Specifications for Household and Electrical Appliances

This blog was originally posted on 15th December, 2023. Further regulatory developments may have occurred after publication. To keep up-to-date with the latest compliance news, sign up to our newsletter.

AUTHORED BY LYNN CHIAM, REGULATORY ANALYST, COMPLIANCE & RISKS

On 23 November 2023, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China Standardization Administration and China State Administration for Market Regulation proposed draft standard GB XXXX-20XX establishing safety specifications for household and similar electrical appliances.

Key Highlights of GB XXXX-20XX

It introduces the requirements for the safety, installation, repair, maintenance and marking of household and similar electrical appliances. The draft standard also provides the testing procedures and methods to ensure that the household and similar electrical appliances comply with the relevant standards. It applies to electrical appliances that may persons in the household or similar establishments use, their rated voltage being not more than 250 V for single-phase appliances and 480 V for other appliances, including direct current (DC) supplied appliances and battery-operated appliances.

Scope of Application

Safety requirements cover electrical, thermal, mechanical safety, durability, structure, components, anti-rusting, radiation, toxicity and similar hazards. The stipulated electrical safety requirements are the most basic requirements that should be followed to protect the safety of relevant people and property.

Furthermore, Section 4.4 specifies that the electrical appliance must be labelled with the following descriptions:

Warnings;
Information on intended use, proper installation, maintenance and repair;
Instructions for use, on how to download the unique identification code for appliances supporting software downloads, etc.

Warnings on electrical appliances should be located in a conspicuous position and be clear and legible, and should not be easy to fade or fall off under normal conditions.

Annexes & Entry into Force

In addition, the draft standard clarifies the following annexes:

Annex A – the list of household and similar electrical appliances with their standards for conformity assessment;
Annex B – the general requirements to verify electrical appliances that do not conform with the draft standard which are caused by the effects of unauthorized
access to remote communications over public networks.

If approved, the draft standard will enter into force 36 months after its official publication.