SGS Hong Kong Ltd. is an official Third Party Certifier (TPC), approved by the US State of California Air Resources Board (CARB) since 2008, the first laboratory in Asia to achieve this status.

As a TPC (TPC-014), SGS Hong Kong Ltd. offers the following services to composite wood manufacturers:

  1. Independent factory audits
  2. Sample testing, in accordance with ASTM D6007
  3. Establishing the quality control limit (QCL) for small scale testing
  4. CARB-approved third party certification

SGS's role is to support CARB in reducing formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products and finished goods manufactured in the state of California.

The US CARB regulation defines furniture and flooring manufacturers that use composite wood to make finished products as fabricators. TPCs do not take any responsibility to certify or monitor the product made by the fabricator.

The different labels of the mills and finished product

According to the US CARB regulation, the composite wood manufacturer and the fabricator are subject to different labeling requirements.

For manufacturers, the product label should contain:

  1. Manufacturer name
  2. Product lot number, or batch produced
  3. A marking to denote that the composite wood product complies with the applicable Phase 1 or 2 emission standards specified in section 93120.2(a), or was made using ULEF resins or no-added formaldehyde based resins
  4. The ARB assigned number of the approved third party certifier. This requirement does not apply to manufacturers using no-added formaldehyde based resins that have obtained ARB approval as provided in section 93120.3(c) or products manufactured using ULEF resins as provided in section 93120.3(d)(2)

An example of manufacturer labeling is shown below:

For the fabricators (furniture/flooring manufacturers), the product label should contain:

  1. The fabricator's name
  2. The date the finished product was produced, and a marking to denote that the product was made with hardwood plywood (HWPW), particleboard (PB), or medium density fiberboard (MDF) that complies with the applicable Phase 1 or Phase 2 emission standards in section 93120.2(a). Finished goods shall be labeled as having been made with no-added formaldehyde based resins or ULEF resins if this is so for all HWPW, PB, or MDF used in fabricating the finished goods

An example of fabricator labeling is shown below:

Reference: CARB regulation 93120-93120.12, title 17, California Code of Regulations

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Daster Lai
Deputy Director - Hardgoods
Consumer Testing Services
SGS Hong Kong Limited
1/F On Wui Centre, 25 Lok Yip Road
Fanling, N.T., Hong Kong, China

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