**Investigation Reveals Fake Certification Scheme in the Children’s Lifesaving Jacket Industry in China**
China continues to face a never-ending wave of counterfeit products. Recently, Chinese media reporters investigating the quality of children’s lifesaving jackets came across an unexpected discovery of a fake certification scam. With just a few hundred yuan, the reporters were able to purchase a testing report with CMA (China Metrology Accreditation) and CNAS (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment) certifications for a nonexistent “product,” raising serious concerns.
According to a report by the “Xiaoxiang Morning News” on August 26, reporters received complaints from consumers in Changsha, stating that many children’s lifesaving jackets in the market actually adhere to toy standards, leading to varying levels of quality.
Therefore, the reporters purchased multiple children’s lifesaving jackets online with the intention of having them tested by a reputable institution. However, they encountered a middleman specializing in the testing market, who claimed that products did not need physical inspection. Instead, by paying a small amount, they could obtain a testing report bearing the CMA and CNAS logos.
After a thorough investigation, the reporters uncovered a fraudulent production chain for testing reports: customers would request a report, and testing companies would tailor a qualified report to meet those needs. Furthermore, these reports not only included website links for verification but also had registration numbers that could be found on the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation.
The reporters sent pictures of the jackets to the middleman using the name of a certain company. Three days later, they received an electronic version of the report stamped with the company’s official seal. Later, a physical report with the seal was sent via courier from Dongguan, Guangdong.
One report bore the seal of Qinglyun (Hubei) Inspection and Testing Certification Co., Ltd. (referred to as Hubei Qinglyun Company), priced at 1000 Chinese yuan, with a CMA stamp.
The other report, with the seal of Shenzhen Zhongan Quality Testing Certification Co., Ltd. (referred to as Shenzhen Zhongan Company), was priced at 600 yuan. This report not only featured the CMA logo but also included CNAS and other logos.
Both reports detailed the report number, website for verification, and QR code. Although the jackets were not physically inspected, the reports stated that over ten testing items for the lifesaving jackets were “qualified,” including tests for “formaldehyde content,” “water resistance colorfastness,” and “buoyancy loss.”
Furthermore, when the reporters contacted a customer service representative from Shenzhen Zhongan Company through the official website, requesting a testing report for a drinking cup, the representative stated that sending any sample to the laboratory was sufficient to proceed.
Following the representative’s instructions, the reporters provided the company’s information and a photo of the cup, as well as paid the 600 yuan fee. In the so-called “sample submission” process, the reporters sent a plastic bag to the designated address and received a qualified testing report three days later.
To verify whether these fake reports were forged by illegal middlemen or had an association with the testing companies, the reporters contacted Shenzhen Zhongan Company under the name of the previous report-issuing company. Initially, the customer service representative stated that reports with no issues “should be genuine.” When pressed for a definite answer, the representative abruptly hung up the phone.
Subsequently, the same staff member candidly admitted via phone call on WeChat that reports without sample submissions were not compliant and even mentioned that the industry was aware of this, albeit cautiously. When the reporters inquired about the authenticity of the seals on the report, the representative admitted that they were digitally added.
The reporters also discovered that the phenomenon of “report issuance without sample submission” was not uncommon in the testing industry. After expressing intentions to test products through various online channels, several individuals claiming to be testing company staff responded by saying they could test any product and provide reports directly.
Currently, the market supervision departments in Longhua District, Shenzhen, and Xiangyang City, Hubei have launched investigations.
Following the exposure of the incident, the websites for querying related fake reports were briefly inaccessible. After August 20, the sites resumed operations, but the report numbers that were previously accessible on the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation have disappeared.