The IECEE CB Scheme Guide
CB is the cross-border "working paper" for safety certification: one safety test, referenced by several countries, less repeat testing. But it is not a certificate, it does not cover wireless, and it cannot be taken directly to customs clearance.
The Short Answer
If you only remember three sentences, remember these three:
One, CB is a cross-border "safety working paper". It turns the results of one safety test into a technical document that member countries can reference with each other. The certification body in the target country can read this report directly and does not have to test from scratch.
Two, CB is not a certificate, and not an access permit. The CB Test Certificate (CBTC) and the CB test report are issued by the national certification body (NCB) and the CB Testing Laboratory (CBTL) in a member country, and their effect comes from being "adopted" into the target country's certification procedure, not from the document itself. It cannot be used for customs clearance.
Three, CB only covers safety. Its scope is mainly safety and may include part of energy efficiency; the full requirements of radio frequency and EMC are outside it. People making Bluetooth or WiFi products who assume that a CB report is enough to ship usually get stuck at the radio stage.
Certification Overview
CB solves the problem of "the same safety data being tested again and again"; it does not solve the problem of "who has the right to issue the certificate". The table below pulls these two layers apart.
| Item | Governing body | Issued by | Scope | Equivalent to market access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB Test Certificate (CBTC) | IECEE (IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components) | National certification body (NCB) | Mainly safety, may include part of energy efficiency depending on the standard | No |
| CB test report | IECEE | National certification body (NCB) and CB Testing Laboratory (CBTL) | Safety items covered by the specific IEC standard | No |
| Mutual recognition arrangement among member countries | IECEE | Mutual recognition between the NCBs of member countries | Mutual reference of test results and reports | No, still requires adoption through the target country's procedure |
| Target country certification (e.g. SABER / KC / CCC) | National authorities | National certification bodies and designated laboratories | National regulatory requirements and local differences | Yes (this is the one that grants access) |
What CB Actually Is: Technical Evidence That Can Be Referenced Across Borders
Anyone doing export has had this experience: the same power adapter, entering five countries, gets scheduled for five rounds of safety testing with highly overlapping content. Each round means shipping samples, queuing, waiting for the report, and the time cost stacks on top of logistics and the pace of orders.
The root cause is not hard to understand — the underlying technical logic of national safety requirements largely comes from IEC standards, but regulatory power stays with each country, and no one dares to simply accept another laboratory's data. So tests are repeated and reports are redone.
What IECEE (IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components) does is build a mutual recognition arrangement among member countries: it aligns test methods, report formats and the qualification of the issuing parties, so that one CB test report can be directly consulted and referenced by certification bodies in other member countries. It does not change each country's regulatory power; it only changes "what the evidence looks like".
So the more accurate understanding is this: CB is a set of evidence standards, not a licence. Its value lies in lowering communication cost and repeat testing, not in replacing any country's access procedure. Once this is clear, every judgement that follows becomes easier.
Who Issues It: How NCBs and CBTLs Divide the Work
National certification body (NCB)
An NCB is a country's certification body within the IECEE system, responsible for issuing the CB Test Certificate (CBTC). It answers to its own national certification rules and carries technical responsibility for the certificates it signs.
CB Testing Laboratory (CBTL)
A CBTL is the laboratory that carries out the actual testing and produces the test data and report. Testing is completed in the laboratory and the certificate is issued by the NCB; each has its own qualification scope by standard category.
Key Information
| Nature of the scheme | International mutual recognition arrangement |
| Documents issued | CBTC + CB test report |
| Issuing parties | NCB / CBTL in member countries |
| Qualification boundary | Defined by standard category |
| Who holds the right to certify | The authority in the target country |
What It Covers and What It Does Not
This is the practical part of the whole page. The boundary of CB is clear; the trouble is that many people mistake a "safety report" for "full compliance".
| Technical area | Covered by CB | Practical notes |
|---|---|---|
| Safety | Covered | The main field for CB. IEC 62368-1, the IEC 60335 series and the IEC 61558 series are typical subjects |
| Energy efficiency (partial) | May be included | Whether it is included depends on the specific standard and the issuing party's accepted scope; it cannot be assumed |
| Radio frequency (RF) | Full requirements not covered | RF output power, frequency bands, spurious emissions and receiver performance must be tested separately and handled under the target country's wireless procedure |
| Full EMC requirements | Not covered | The CB framework does not undertake the full EMC conformity determination; a separate EMC report and the target country's procedure are required |
| Chemical and environmental (e.g. RoHS) | Outside the framework | This falls under restricted substances and needs separate chemical testing and documentation |
| Market access and customs clearance | Not equivalent | Requires the target country's certificate, registration or declaration of conformity; CB itself has no customs clearance effect |
Which Countries / Schemes Accept CB
Acceptance is not automatic approval. The difference is that some countries treat CB as technical evidence that can speed things up, some recognise only part of it, and some make little use of it. Below are common situations we have verified on this site.
| Country / scheme | Attitude toward CB | Practical points |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia SABER | Accepts CB reports | Can shorten the timeline to 1-2 weeks, but the conformity procedure in the SABER system is still required. See the Saudi SABER guide |
| Korea KC | CB + IEC 62368-1 can exempt a large part of safety testing | Korea still assesses the sufficiency of the report and may require supplementary difference items. See the Korea KC guide |
| China CCC | Can reduce test cost and time by about 50% | The report must be issued by a CNCA-designated laboratory; CB cannot bypass the designated laboratory. See the China CCC/SRRC guide |
| Australia EESS | CB + AS/NZS differences can be used to speed up | The differences still need supplementary testing; the whole report cannot be copied across. See the Australia RCM guide |
| India BIS | Not accepted directly | Testing and registration must still be arranged under India's local requirements. See the India BIS/WPC guide |
| Taiwan BSMI | Not used directly | Must be handled under the local procedure. See the Taiwan NCC/BSMI guide |
How to Use It Economically: Put CB in the Right Place in the Process
The premise for CB saving money is the right sequence. With the wrong sequence, it turns from "saving one test" into "producing one more report that cannot be used".
Fix the target countries first
List the destination markets and the corresponding certification schemes, then work backwards to the technical evidence needed
Align the standard version
Confirm the IEC standard version currently adopted in the target country, so the report version does not mismatch
Choose the right qualification scope
Confirm that the NCB / CBTL scope covers your product's standard category
Reserve for several countries in one test
Reserve samples and data for target country differences during the test itself, to reduce second sample submissions
Submit the report with the difference notes
Attach a difference comparison on submission to reduce back-and-forth enquiries from the target country body
Archive for reference
Keep technical documents and the critical component list complete for later model extension references
The overall idea can be summed up in one sentence: treat CB as underlying data that is "done right once and reused in several countries", not as a stopgap document that is "thrown together first and topped up later". If the underlying data is solid, each new country later is an addition; if it is vague, each new country later means rework.
When CB Does Not Help
These situations come up frequently in real projects; identifying them early saves a good deal of wasted money.
The target country does not recognise CB
Some countries do not accept CB reports directly and still require testing to national requirements or a report from a designated laboratory. In such projects CB is only a reference.
Standard version mismatch
The report uses an older IEC standard version while the target country has moved to the new one. In that case the report usually cannot be referenced directly and supplementary testing to the new version is needed.
Beyond the scope
Radio frequency, full EMC requirements and chemical/environmental compliance are all outside the CB framework; expecting one safety report to cover all compliance is unrealistic.
Local or designated laboratory required
Some schemes stipulate that the report must come from a nationally designated laboratory; a CB report is then only a technical reference and cannot replace testing by the designated laboratory.
Product does not match the report description
The model, critical components, construction or rating label parameters changed without the report being updated. The report is then out of step with the actual product, and the target country body generally will not rely on it.
Target country differences not addressed
Local differences such as plug type, rated voltage, marking language and manual requirements are not covered; however complete the report, it will not pass the local procedure.
Relationship with CE and FCC Reports: One-Way Reference Only
Referencing in this direction works
The LVD part of CE and the safety-related part of FCC may reference CB test data as technical evidence. This is a common practice in real projects and reduces repeat safety testing.
Reverse substitution does not work
CE reports and FCC reports cannot substitute for CB in the other direction. The reason is that CB sets fixed requirements on the issuing party, the report format and the qualification scope, whereas CE is a self-declaration system (or one involving a notified body) and FCC is a completely separate system.
Recommended order
If a product needs both CB and CE / FCC, doing CB first is more economical: the safety data can be reused in the downstream reports. Doing CE / FCC first usually means supplementary testing when CB is done later, which amounts to testing the same batch of data twice.
Further reading: Reusing CB reports in practice, Report transfer path map. For EU-side compliance details see the CE/RED guide, and for the US side the FCC guide.
Common Pitfalls
| Pitfall | How it shows up | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Treating CB as an access permit | Taking a CB report to customs and being asked for the target country's certificate | Confirm the target country's access procedure first; submit CB only as technical evidence |
| Outdated report version | The target country has switched to the new standard version and the report cannot be referenced | Check the standard version at project start and arrange supplementary testing to the new version where needed |
| Model coverage written too narrowly | Series models are not all listed, so later models cannot use the report | Work out the model series and the differences before testing and write them all in at once |
| Critical component changes not updated | The power supply, capacitor or enclosure material is changed but the report still points to the old configuration | Keep a critical component list and assess on each change whether a report update is triggered |
| Assuming CB covers wireless | A wireless product only has safety testing; the radio certification is missing | Plan RF and EMC separately for wireless products; do not lump them in with safety |
| Ignoring local differences | Plug, voltage, marking or language does not meet the target country's requirements | Prepare a difference comparison table before submission and confirm item by item |
Key Information
| Full scheme name | IECEE (IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components) |
| Documents issued | CB Test Certificate (CBTC) and CB test report |
| Issuing parties | National certification body (NCB) and CB Testing Laboratory (CBTL) |
| Main coverage | Mainly safety, possibly including part of energy efficiency |
| Not covered | Full requirements of radio frequency and EMC (subject to the specific standard and the target country's requirements) |
| Equivalent to access | No. CB is not a market access certificate and cannot be used directly for customs clearance |
| Precondition for effect | Adoption by the target country's certification procedure; the body keeps the right of assessment and the right to issue certificates |
| Cost and timeline | Subject to the assessment of the body; varies with product complexity and standard category |
| How validity is judged | Determined together by the standard version, product changes and the target country's requirements in force at the time |
FAQs
Can a CB certificate clear customs directly?
With a CB report, does the target country still need supplementary testing?
Does CB cover wireless and EMC?
Does a CB report expire?
Is the CB report in your hands actually usable?
Tell us the product, the standard version and the target countries, and we will help you judge the report's usability and the difference items that need to be added
📞 Free Assessment