What certifications are required for portable fans to be exported to Europe and the United States? Understanding these is essential!

In recent years, the summer temperatures have continued to rise around the world. Compared with the more expensive air conditioners, various portable fans have become popular cooling devices in Europe and North America. However, with the increase in market demand, the quality and safety of portable fans has also attracted much attention. So, do you know what certification requirements portable fans exported to the European and American markets need to meet? This article will introduce the relevant quality and safety risks and the certification requirements for exporting to the European and American markets in detail to provide a reference for enterprises.

1. Main quality and safety risks
Portable fans are small household appliances with small size and easy to carry. They are widely used in various scenarios, but there are also some quality and safety risks.
1. Battery overheating risk
Portable fans usually have built-in lithium-ion batteries. During charging or use, the battery may overheat or even explode and cause a fire. There are mainly the following situations:
(a) Design defects: The circuit design of portable rechargeable fans is too simple and lacks an effective overheating protection mechanism. Long-term charging or use may cause the battery to overheat and explode.
(b) Unqualified materials: In order to save costs, manufacturers use substandard or refurbished lithium-ion batteries. In actual use, under environmental changes or abuse, adverse chemical reactions are prone to occur, causing battery combustion.
(c) External short circuit: Some portable rechargeable fans use bulk 18650 lithium-ion batteries. The exposed metal positive and negative electrodes of these batteries may cause external short circuits when they come into contact with metal objects (such as keys and coins) carried with you, causing thermal runaway and fire.
2. Chemical hazard risks
The materials used in portable fan products may cause harm to human health and the environment, mainly including the following situations:
(a) Excessive harmful substances: The printed circuit boards, battery connectors or USB cables of products such as mini fans may contain excessive amounts of lead and cadmium, which are not in compliance with the EU RoHS 2.0 Directive.
(b) Harmful substances in plastic materials: The plastic shells of products such as neck fans and desktop fans may contain excessive concentrations of DEHP and DBP, which are not in compliance with the RoHS 2.0 Directive.
(c) Excessive SCCP: The plastic material of the portable fan USB cable may contain excessive amounts of short-chain chlorinated paraffin (SCCP), which is not in compliance with POPs regulations.
3. Mechanical injury risk
Some portable fans have safety hazards in design and structure, mainly including the following situations:
(a) Child safety risk: Portable fans designed as cartoon characters or with play functions are easy for children to use as toys. If their fingers touch the fan blades, they may be cut or injured; small parts may fall off and be swallowed by mistake, causing suffocation.
(b) Hair entanglement risk: Neck-type and desktop portable fans are close to the human body when used. If the design is unreasonable and the gap of the mesh cover is too large, it is easy for the user's hair to be entangled, causing scalp damage.
II. Safety certification requirements for export to European and American markets
Portable fans exported to European and American markets need to meet a series of strict certification requirements to ensure the safety and compliance of the products.
1. EU market certification requirements
Portable fans exported to EU member states need to undergo CE certification and RoHS testing.
(a) CE certification: Portable fans must comply with the EN 60335 series of standards for electrical machinery safety testing, as well as the LVD low voltage directive and the EMC electromagnetic compatibility directive.
(b) RoHS Directive: requires testing of the content of 10 hazardous substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium in small fans to ensure compliance with the specified limits.
(c) REACH and POPs regulations: Small fans exported to the EU must also comply with the provisions of the REACH regulations and POPs regulations on chemical restricted substances and hazardous substances.
2. Certification requirements for the US market
Portable small fans exported to the United States usually require FCC certification and UL certification.
(a) FCC certification: a pass for electronic and electrical products to enter the US market. Small fan products must comply with the corresponding FCC certification and affix the corresponding logo.
(b) UL certification: mainly for the testing and certification of the safety performance of electronic and electrical products. Although UL certification is a non-mandatory certification in the United States, cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon have strictly required UL certification in recent years. Products without UL certification may face the risk of being removed from the shelves.
III. Customs reminder
Domestic portable small fan manufacturers and traders should take the initiative to understand and master the access requirements of the European and American markets, follow the relevant technical regulations and standards, keep a close eye on key links such as product design, raw material screening, and battery control, strengthen the whole chain production management, and comprehensively improve product safety performance.
1. Pay attention to the market access requirements of Europe and the United States
Enterprises should pay attention to the EU RAPEX notification and the US CPSC recall of portable fans in a timely manner, study and analyze the notification and recall reasons, conduct self-inspection and self-correction in a timely manner, and eliminate the safety hazards of similar products by improving structural design and replacing raw and auxiliary materials.
2. Strengthen product safety certification
Strictly carry out comprehensive safety certification of electrical products for portable fans. Exports to the EU require CE certification, comply with the requirements of the Low Voltage Directive (LVD), the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC), the RoHS Directive, battery testing, etc.; exports to the United States require FCC certification, and try to obtain UL certification to ensure that the product is safe and compliant for export and sales, and avoid the risk of product removal.

The demand for portable fans in the European and American markets continues to grow, but various quality and safety issues are also increasing. By understanding and meeting the certification requirements of the European and American markets, companies can effectively improve the safety and competitiveness of their products and ensure smooth entry into the international market. I hope this article can provide you with valuable reference and guidance in the process of exporting portable fans, so that you can achieve greater success in the global market.