16 CFR 1110.11(a) · amended 2026-07-08
The certificate rules changed. Does yours still comply?
On 8 July 2026 the content requirements for a US certificate of compliance were rebuilt. The old paragraphs (a) to (g) are gone, three requirements got stricter, and a seventh appeared. Paste your certificate and see, requirement by requirement, what is present and what is missing. Free, and it never leaves your browser.
Everything below runs in your browser. Your certificate is never uploaded, stored or sent anywhere.
A PDF is read by code running on this page. The file is not uploaded either.
What actually changed
16 CFR 1110.11 was renamed from “Content of certificate” to “Certificate content” and restructured. The content requirements now sit at (a)(1) through (a)(7), and the letters (b), (c) and (d) were reused for entirely different subject matter. Guidance written against the old lettering — which is most of what is online — now points at paragraphs that either do not exist or mean something else.
- The certifier now needs an email address. Paragraph (a)(3) asks for name, street address, city, state or province, country or region, email and telephone. The superseded text did not ask for an email.
- Manufacture and testing need full contact blocks. A city and a country no longer satisfy (a)(5); the manufacturer’s name, street address, email and telephone are required too. (a)(6) asks for the most recent test date and the same detail for each testing body.
- There is a seventh requirement. Paragraph (a)(7) requires an attestation, and for paper and electronic certificates the rule prescribes the exact wording.
The full account of what changed on 2026-07-08, paragraph by paragraph, with the attestation quoted in full.
Why it matters at the border
For goods manufactured outside the United States and offered for importation, 16 CFR 1110.13(a)(1) requires the certificate data elements to be eFiled into CBP’s ACE at the time of filing the entry. Those data elements are exactly what 1110.11(a) lists. Getting them wrong is no longer a paperwork problem discovered later.
And under 16 CFR 1110.7, for imported goods the finished product certifier is the importer— not the factory that sent you the document.
What CertSeven does not do
- It is not legal advice. Whether a given rule applies to your product is a judgement that depends on materials, age grading and construction. We check that citations resolve to real parts of title 16 and that the required facts are present. We never decide what applies, and never call a certificate compliant.
- It is not laboratory testing. A certificate has to rest on real test results. We never invent them.
- It does not eFile anything. The ACE filing required by 1110.13(a)(1) is done by you or your customs broker. Publishing here meets the conditions 1110.9(c) sets for an electronic certificate, which is how the furnishing and availability duties in 1110.13(b) and (c) can be met.
Get a certificate that carries all seven
The checker above is free and always will be. The paid part is the other direction: writing a certificate that has every fact 16 CFR 1110.11(a) asks for, in a form you can hand to your customs broker.
- All seven requirements, or it will not publish. Each field maps to a paragraph, including the attestation whose wording (a)(7) prescribes. It names what is still missing until nothing is.
- A data sheet for your broker. The seven data elements set out one by one, to print or download, so the person filing your entry has them in front of him.
- A printable certificate you keep.A PDF you print or save, a standalone file that opens offline, and a permanent verification link with a unique identifier for distributors, retailers, CPSC or CBP — which is what 16 CFR 1110.13(b) and (c) ask of you.
$29 per certificate. One payment, no account, no subscription.
Build a certificateCommon questions
- What must a US certificate of compliance contain?
- 16 CFR 1110.11(a) sets out seven content requirements: product identification, the rules certified to, the finished product certifier, the individual maintaining test records, the date and place of manufacture, the date and place of testing, and the certifier's attestation. Each contact block needs a name, street address, city, state or province, country or administrative region, email address and telephone number.
- What changed in the certificate rules on 8 July 2026?
- 16 CFR 1110.11 was renamed and restructured effective 8 July 2026. The content requirements moved from paragraphs (a) through (g) to (a)(1) through (a)(7). The certifier now needs an email address, the places of manufacture and testing need full contact blocks, and a seventh requirement was added: an attestation in wording the rule prescribes.
- Who has to certify an imported product, the importer or the factory?
- Under 16 CFR 1110.7, for a finished product manufactured outside the United States the importer is the finished product certifier. A certificate supplied by the foreign factory does not move that obligation, and under 16 CFR 1110.15 the certifier remains legally responsible for the information in the certificate.
- Does a certificate of compliance have to be eFiled?
- For goods manufactured outside the United States and offered for importation, 16 CFR 1110.13(a)(1) requires the certificate data elements to be eFiled into CBP's ACE at the time the entry is filed. That filing is done by the importer or his customs broker. Hosting a certificate at a verifiable address addresses the separate furnishing and availability duties in 16 CFR 1110.13(b) and (c).
- Is there a free way to check a certificate of compliance?
- CertSeven checks a pasted certificate against all seven content requirements of 16 CFR 1110.11(a) and resolves every rule it cites against the current title 16 inventory, free and without an account. The check runs entirely in the browser, so the certificate is not uploaded anywhere.
The seven requirements are set out one page each under the requirements, and what your broker needs is in the eFiling guide. Last verified against the eCFR on 2026-08-24; 7 required elements, 76 citable rules.
76 CPSC rules, quoted from the source
Every standard, ban and requirement in title 16 that a certificate can cite, with the official scope text and a link to the eCFR. Snapshot 2026-08-24, refreshed from the eCFR API rather than written from memory.
Browse the standards