How to verify a supplier’s CE, GS and CB certificates in under an hour

Start with the four fields that cannot be faked

Every genuine test report carries the issuing laboratory, the standard cited (for a stick vacuum, EN/IEC 60335-1 and 60335-2-2, or UL 1017 for North America), a report number, and a scope that names the product tested. Cross-check those four fields against the product on the table. A vacuum cleaner certificate that is actually a certificate for another appliance, or a report whose scope says “similar model”, is the most common problem you will find — and it is visible in about two minutes.

Then verify with the laboratory, not with the supplier

Take the report number and issuing laboratory and verify directly — every major body (TÜV, Intertek/ETL, SGS, Bureau Veritas) maintains a public verification channel, and a report number that cannot be verified is not a report. This is the step most buyers skip, and it is the only step that actually proves anything. A supplier who welcomes the check has nothing to hide; one who resists it is telling you something.

Check the holder field, and understand why it is masked

The applicant or holder field tells you who commissioned the test. Trading companies routinely release masked copies because unmasked ones expose the manufacturer — which is exactly why we announce the masking policy on our own compliance page before you ask. What matters is the substance: the standard, the scope, the report number and the market it covers. If the holder field has been altered rather than masked, that is a different matter entirely — and a laboratory verification will catch it every time.

Finally, match the market to the document

A CE file does not clear the United States; a CB report clears nothing on its own but converts quickly to many national schemes; GS is a German mark recognised across the EU but not a global one; and Rev 0 of RoHS is not the current version. Build a two-column list — market, required document — and tick each model against it before you pay a deposit. Our own compliance matrix is published in exactly that format so you can compare it line by line.