TSCA Title VI vs CARB: Which Formaldehyde Rule Applies to Your Shipment

TSCA Title VI vs CARB: Which Formaldehyde Rule Applies to Your Shipment

A supplier in Foshan tells you the panels are CARB compliant. That sentence answers a California question. It does not automatically answer the federal one, and the two are not interchangeable even though they were designed to be close.

Most importers of wood furniture meet both rules at once without knowing it, and the ones who fail usually fail on documentation rather than on product.

Two rules, two jurisdictions

TSCA Title VI is federal. It is implemented at 40 CFR Part 770 and applies to composite wood products imported, sold or supplied anywhere in the United States.

CARB refers to the California Air Resources Board's Airborne Toxic Control Measure, at Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, sections 93120 and following. It applies to products imported into or sold in California.

So a container of MDF desks bound for Ohio is subject to TSCA Title VI. The same container bound for a distribution centre in Ontario, California is subject to both.

The emission standards were deliberately aligned, which is why a compliant panel is usually compliant under both. The paperwork, the certifier and the label are where they diverge.

Where they actually differ

The practical difference sits in the third and fourth rows. A panel producer certified under CARB has historically been eligible for EPA recognition through reciprocity, which is why one certificate can serve both markets.

But reciprocity is a property of the certifier, not of the invoice. A supplier who says CARB compliant without naming a certifier has told you a category, not a fact.

The trap: one word doing two jobs

The failure mode is linguistic. CARB compliant is used in the trade as shorthand for the formaldehyde requirement in general, and a factory that has only ever shipped to California may genuinely mean what it says.

The problem appears when the destination is not California. A buyer in Texas receives panels that are CARB certified, which is fine, but the file contains no EPA TPC number and no TSCA Title VI compliance statement on the commercial documents.

At entry, the Section 13 import certification under TSCA requires a statement that the goods comply. If the invoice only references CARB, the broker has nothing to point at.

What to ask for, in writing

Ask three questions and require written answers. Which panel producer, and what is their EPA TSCA Title VI TPC number.

Does the commercial invoice or packing list carry a statement of TSCA Title VI compliance, in those words. And if any part of the order is sold into California, is there a CARB certificate for the same production run.

A supplier who can answer all three is selling you a documented product. One who answers the first two and deflects the third is selling you a product that will clear in most states and fail in one.

Records after the container clears

The obligation does not end at release. Importers must keep the bills of lading, invoices or comparable documents bearing the compliance statement for three years, and must be able to produce records identifying the panel producer, production date, supplier and purchase date within 30 calendar days of an EPA request.

That 30-day clock is the reason the file has to exist before the shipment, not after. Reconstructing a panel producer's identity from a Chinese trading company's email archive, two years later, is not a 30-day task.

A simple practice that satisfies both regimes: one folder per shipment containing the invoice with the compliance statement, the label photograph, and the producer's TPC number. It takes minutes to assemble and it is the entire defence.

The label test

Under 40 CFR 770.45, a compliant panel or bundle carries the producer's name or number, the lot number, the TPC number, and a statement of TSCA Title VI certification.

Photograph a label from the actual shipment, not from a sample sent a year ago. The most common gap is a label that exists for the sample and not for the production run, because the cartons were printed before the panel supplier changed.

What happens at the entry

The Section 13 import certification is a statement filed with the entry that the goods comply with TSCA. The broker files it, but the importer certifies it.

When the file contains only a CARB certificate, the broker has two options: file and hope, or ask. Most ask, and that question arrives at the worst possible moment, usually within 48 hours of vessel arrival.

The fix is ordering, not documentation volume. Ask for the TPC number at the purchase order stage, when the supplier still has time to produce it. A number obtained in week three of production costs nothing; the same number requested on the day of lading costs a week.

A file that satisfies both regimes

Five items cover the federal requirement and, with one addition, the California one.

The commercial invoice or packing list carrying a statement of TSCA Title VI compliance in those words. The panel producer's name. The EPA TSCA Title VI TPC number. A photograph of the label from the actual production run. And the purchase date, because the 30-day response clock under 770.40 is measured against records you must be able to retrieve.

For California-bound product, add the CARB certificate for the same production run. Where the certifier holds both recognitions, one document may serve, but the file should show that explicitly rather than leaving it to inference.

If you only have a CARB certificate

It happens, and it is recoverable. The path depends on how close the shipment is to lading.

Before lading, ask the panel producer for the EPA TPC number and a compliance statement on the commercial documents. Most producers who hold CARB certification also hold EPA recognition through reciprocity and can supply both within a day.

After lading but before arrival, the entry can still carry a Section 13 certification provided the statement is obtained before filing. The container does not need to be held for this, but the file does need to be complete.

After arrival, a missing certification is a release problem rather than a paperwork problem. The practical sequence is to obtain the statement, file the certification, and accept that the container may be examined while the file is being completed.

A single certificate can cover both markets, but only if you can name the certifier, quote the statement and photograph the label. Without those three, CARB compliant is a phrase rather than a record.